In the past week or so, Swedish metal band Soilwork released two tracks from their upcoming album Sworn to a Great Divide. The first track was the official first single, “Exile”, and today the band released “The Pittsburgh Syndrome” via their myspace page.
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(my take)
I love Soilwork. Period. Everything they’ve done, i’ve been able to find some kind of redeeming quality in. Granted, I have my songs that I don’t like, i’ve got my albums that I don’t really listen to… but as a whole, Soilwork’s catalog is extremely strong in my book. I have even come to appreciate a lot of Figure Number Five – an album which it seems most fans deem “unlistenable”, or at least when they “sold out”.The two tracks released thus far from Sworn to a Great Divide, have me scared however. Since this album was announced, i’ve been all sorts of giddy and skeptical all at the same time. I ask myself – “How can they make a good album without Peter Wichers? Wasn’t he the principle songwriter of the band? Wasn’t their unique sound mainly sourced from his playing style?,” and at the same time I wonder “How could they release an album that I won’t find anything good about?”
As such, I am conflicted. What started it, was “Exile”, the first radio single. Those two words seem to just SCREAM from this song – radio single. I’ve worked in radio the past 2 years, running a college station. I’ve spent the past 3 years learning marketing, public relations, and promotion through a communications program. When something screams “radio single” to me, I have the confidence in my gut feelings to believe them to be true. The song quite frankly feels a whole lot like “Nerve”, the second single from Stabbing the Drama, which I despised as well. But, overall, I dig Stabbing the Drama. It has some great tracks that should be destined to be Soilwork classics (i’m looking at you “Blind Eye Halo” and “One with the Flies”). So no reason to be worried, right?
Maybe wrong… of course I won’t be absolutely sure until the album’s release here in the States on October 23rd, but “The Pittsburgh Syndrome” certainly has me worried. To me, it sounds like a poor man’s version of “Blind Eye Halo”, with no great hook in the guitar play, and no superb rock-out groove for a bridge. The only thing I find really superbly interesting about the track is Speed’s vocal interplay.I’m going to hold full judgment on the entire album until the end of October, as it may end up winning me over like Stabbing the Drama did. I’m not looking for another A Predator’s Portrait here (which I feel is their magnum opus thus far into their career), but Soilwork can deliver us something better than what they seem to be plodding along with right now. I remember how blown away I was the first time I heard “Follow the Hollow”, right before the release of Figure Number Five. These guys used to innovate on a massive scale every release. Don’t let me down now!
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SOILWORK – “Sworn to a Great Divide”
Listen to “Exile” and “The Pittsburgh Syndrome” on Myspace
Listen to the tracks yourself, and tell me what you think.
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Hey! I run the official soilwork fansite and I saw this and had to comment. I am in your boat as well. A Predator’s Portrait is by all accounts their best record. I mean you can’t top it as far as what I look for in metal music (dynamics, leads, production, epicness). I was also worried about the album once I heard those songs. They have grown on me though just like the initial stuff I heard from Stabbing the Drama did. I actually love Figure Number Five and was a fan instantly. I think it definitely has some of their strongest hooks.
There is a third song released from the upcoming album though and it is the title track. It was debut on the sirius radio show hard files. The beginning scared me as it sounded really nu metal but the rest of the song is pretty good and it definitely has me less worried now. It also had to grow on me. If you want to check it out, then contact me.