Soen

WHEN SOEN RELEASED their debut album, Cognitive, back in 2012, the Swedish band were rooted in a claustrophobically groovy prog-metal subterranea. A decade and some lineup changes later, that approach seems a world apart from the soaring songcraft the act bring to their sixth full-length, Memorial. Take the record’s first single, “Unbreakable,” which solidifies Soen’s anthems era with jubilant sing-alongs and hard rock hooks. But even if it sounds like Soen have progressed past prog, guitarist Cody Lee Ford suggests their new material is much odder than you’d think.

“When you listen to parts that seem simplistic, there’s lots of weird stuff happening in the groove,” he says, pointing to how Memorial’s “Fortress” has him and co-guitarist Lars Åhlund chunking above a 4/4 beat with deceptively complex, djenty dexterity. “We’re always going to keep these proggy elements alive; it’s part of the essence of Soen. It’s impossible to stray away from that too much.” Nevertheless, Memorial is Soen’s most streamlined release yet. Åhlund says that since the release of 2017’s Lykaia, the band have scaled down “from eight-minute songs with a million riffs” to a tightly focused, melody-first approach (only Memorial’s closing ballad, “Vitals,” crosses the five-minute mark).

Since joining up in 2018, the Canadian-born Ford has primarily employed a spacious vibrato to his lead work. While that continues through much of Memorial, the record’s most propulsive tempos inspired Ford to tap into a more frenetic form of fretboard expressiveness. “Up until this album, there wasn’t really space for the shreddy stuff,” he says of busting out the big runs on “Fortress,” adding that his love for the late Alexi Laiho — as well as the acquisition of a 27-fret Jackson Wildcard