Soen
Lykaia

I feel sorry for the nostalgics, but in this review, you won't hear about Tool or Opeth.
What? Aren't you reviewing a Soen album?
Exactly, and it's precisely about them that you'll hear below.

2016 left us hopeful for the coming year with "Sectarian," the first single from the album Lykaia. It is followed by "Lucidity," a ballad lasting about 7 minutes, which perhaps attempted to deceive us with a particular marketing strategy, or more likely, there were few other songs that truly had some emotion to offer.

The guitarist/producer Jidell plays on the inclusion of blues-flavored solos that sometimes perfectly contribute to creating an atmosphere, but sometimes clash.
Joel, always solemn in his way of singing, like a prophet announcing the end of the world or like a warrior urging his troops, is now devoid of emotions.
Bassist Stenberg doesn't stand out, but it's hard to talk about him after falling in love with Steve DiGiorgio's bass lines in Cognitive.
Lopez abandons that sound reminiscent of death metal to serve the group, and perhaps this is precisely the reason for the lack of originality.

With Lykaia, Soen have abandoned what they knew how to do best: powerful rhythms, frequent tempo changes, sudden drops in dynamics to then explode again in other unison riffs, which could charge the listener like few other bands can.
Now they have transformed: the progressive component has been reduced and overall, the result is well-constructed and certainly well-played metal, but it leaves little room for anything else, more flat compared to previous works.

"Stray" is the most noteworthy song, but it takes only a few minutes to realize that the album is already finished, leaving a bitter taste.
Cognitive, the first album, was supposed to be a starting point, not an endpoint; the fear is that this is, in turn, a starting point.