“Niiiiiice”, says Louis Balfour – you know, the jazz critic in The Fast Show comedy sketches. Well, Soen’s Memorial (Silver Lining Music) is niiiiiice – a decidedly serious sandwich full of delights, earworms, and all-around expertise. 

It’s got me thinking, and I’m sure it will get you thinking.

What I’m thinking is that not all albums are the same – profound or what?! Some albums are a bit rough and ready, such as Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut, or Stiff Little Fingers’ Inflammable Material. Some are polished, airbrushed, hair brushed in a quest for perfection, like ABBA’s Arrival, or Super Trouper. Or Are You Ready, by Bucks Fizz (the one with “Land Of Make Believe” on it.

Soen are progressive metal more than anything else, but with a populist slant – although still more Sabbath, perhaps, than ABBA. You could say the comparison with the Swedish pop-meisters is a lazy reference by me, simply because Soen are Swedish too, but it also gives me an excuse to mention bits of Memorial remind me of compatriots Ghost – hard rock but still poppy, with melodies, hooks and those sqworms in your ear-holes.

Long-time Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, in his very readable, often hilarious and outrageous new book, Into The Void (HarperCollins) says of that long-playing, self-titled debut: “Of course we sounded dark and heavy, that was our lives.” I dunno if Soen would say the same thing, but there’s lots of drama, lots of atmosphere, and yes, lots of the “real world” – real life, real angst, real ideas. Society’s ills writ large; a timely anti-war concept. It’s just such a niiiiiice record, sound – everything is just so… slick, certainly – very well played, cleverly conceived and realised, and perfectly captured by the band who produced the record themselves.

Hopefully, it doesn’t sound like I’m damning Soen with “niiiiiice” praise – there is much to admire and enjoy here, not least the sheer sonic sheen of it, and the undoubted commitment of everyone involved. Singer Joel Ekelof is in fine form throughout, displaying again his considerable range. Stand-out tracks, many with expert changes in tempo, include the irresistible ‘Unbreakable’, something of a template for the Soen formula, the Soen “experience” – that drama and atmosphere, they do so well. 

“Hollowed” (featuring Elisa), builds from a niiiiiice acoustic intro to become a moody stand-out, moving and anthemic, with a lead geetar break to die for and has everything it takes to be a massive crowd favourite in the future, especially if they can reproduce the duet live. The martial, marching title track also can’t fail to get the faithful going. I’m sure, in fact, that the spirit and souls of several of these songs are already occupying dark rooms and festival venues, waiting to become live bangers.

“Icon” ups the riffage, the thrash and crash quotient, while swoony closing track ‘Vitals’ brings things to a suitably emotional finale, Ekelof again impressing, along with drummer Martin Lopez (Opeth). 

Niiiiiice …

Buy the album here:

https://smarturl.it/SoenMemorial

8 / 10

CALLUM REID