Soilwork
Sworn To A Great Divide

THE REVIEW

I think it can rightly be said that In Flames and Soilwork (and partly The Haunted as an offshoot of the seminal At The Gates of "Slaughter of the Soul") created, some years ago now, a truly profitable trend, not only in terms of commercial sales but also as a breath of fresh air and originality, at least in intentions. Then the market completely inflated and today a myriad of LPs come out as photocopies of "Natural Born Chaos" or "Reroute to Remain," and generally of metalcore clearly influenced by the Swedish scene (see the still excellent and powerful Killswitch Engage and the overrated Caliban).

But what will a listener approaching for the first time find? Well, very little Swedish brand death metal, just the type of guitar and bass sound (so a bit nasal on the rhythms but Maiden-like when soloing), a lot of American-styled nu-metal melody, very Pantera-like vocals (although to be fair to Phil Anselmo of "Vulgar..." there’s less anger and more pursuit of a cool, catchy chorus), and then a solid classic Bay Area thrash base (especially a lot of Testament and Exodus).

Having said this, I believe the new Soilwork album "Sworn to a Great Divide" can be said not to diverge much from what’s been mentioned above, and even less from the previous "Stabbing the Drama," but while staying true to their compositional line, it allows for some renewal. Firstly, the guitarist and principal composer Peter Wichers is no longer part of the team and the effect has been a recovery, albeit in small doses, of riffs more pertinent to death, as for example in "The Pittsburgh Syndrome", a really intense song, "As the Sleeper Awakes" (a small return to the origins) and in the title track, which I will discuss further later on.

Secondly, there has even been an enhancement in the desire to seek out impactful refrains, the kind of chorus that sticks in your mind immediately after hearing it even just once: this is the case with the first single "Exile", (a track that shows no weakness, excellent in consistency and melody), but also in the concluding "Sick Heart River" (very beautiful and emotional, you can even hear some references to Katatonia of "The Great Cold..."), "20 More Miles" and even in the bonus track "Martyr".
Excellent as well are the Pantera-like and thrashy "Breeding Thorns" and "I Vermin", where the alternation between power/speed and emo melody (and in this, the good Bjorn "Speed" Strid, the band’s singer, has no equal, proving himself very adept at alternating screams vocals and much more polished parts) finds a balance that many competitors of the genre lack.

I find only two weak points throughout the entire album: the opener and title track "Sworn to a Great Divide" (the only one that presents a few seconds of blast beat of death memory) seems to me the weakest track of the album, it does not present particular points of merit or demerit, it is simply mediocre. The second point is in the production: surely the voice stands out for clarity and presence, the drums are always perfectly distinct and audible, but damn, the rhythm guitars have a sound inferior in power and fullness compared to those appreciated on the previous "Stabbing the Drama." I wouldn’t want this to be intentional to make themselves even less indigestible to a wider audience (????!!!!!).

Ultimately, we are facing a record made with passion but also with great attention to the pursuit of commercial success (which does not always have negative and betraying connotations), as the leader "Speed" Strid has expressed more than once in no uncertain terms in his latest interviews published in the specialist press. We'll see if the goal will be achieved.