Soen‘s inspirations always seemed clear to me. Tool laid the base for their debut and Opeth‘s best ex-drummer, Martin Lopez, has been a member from the start. This lead to a natural similarity between the bands even if the guitar riffs would not have been similar in the first place. For three albums, Soen experimented with different formulas containing these two sounds and their own character, which can best be summed up as a vocal-forward style with break-aways into calm, crooning moments. At their best, these albums worked as good Progressive Metal comfort food. 2019’s Lotus, however, revealed itself as a watershed moment, Soen sounding more confident than ever. All of the pieces of their sound came together here, borrowed or not. Owing much to the improved and dynamic production, the songs found clarity in a bass and drum lockstep, creating a propulsive character to the sound that helped carry its most serene parts. Furthermore, they stirred the pot with a pinch of Pink Floyd in the solos and progressions. Albeit slight, this added the right amount of oldish-new flavor to the mix.
Starkly turning away from this direction, 2021’s Imperial went down the road of loud production, Alternative Rock, and Pop refrains. The songs did not sit well with me and felt unfocused in moments around the huge chorus moments, presenting a simultaneous evolution and stagnation. Memorial, unfortunately, continues this downward spiral and hones in on the worst Pop and Alternative Rock aspects of its similarly named predecessor. At first I was hopeful that the band could have steered their style more deftly, like Katatonia did earlier this year with Sky Void of Stars. Opener “Sincere” strikes a middle ground between the two previous sounds well enough. But the album instantly nosedives with some of the most Pop-reaching refrains I have heard lately in “Unbreakable” (complete with cheesy The Beatles-inspired piano) and “Violence”, which in refrain and vocal cadence carry tones both of Bon Jovi and Rihanna‘s “Umbrella”. These saccharine moments mix with Soen‘s previous set of musical tools like water does with oil causing a disconnect with Memorial‘s heavy themes. The following five songs find vocalist Joel Ekelöf leading Soen more directionless than ever in this mix of light Metal with Rock, and closing ballad “Vitals” highlights just how many trope-laden styles they attempt throughout. Failing as a Progressive Rock/Metal and as a Pop album, Soen seems unwilling to go fully in either direction, instead attempting to shoehorn into their established style additional Arena Rock and Pop elements. Other efforts, like the work done by VOLA and the recent Ulver output, see more success in this lane. Soen, however, does not seem to know what makes great Pop-infused music tick.
Where Imperial seemed like an unfortunate misstep, Memorial shows more than ever that Soen lack direction. The powerful focus and masterful groove of Lotus might just have been a fluke. This progression toward a mainstream identity comes across as a cynical attempt to catch fans from too many different avenues, and as a result leaves a particularly bad taste in this Gator‘s mouth. What a way to fall for a once promising band.
