The provocative, imperious and engaging Swedish-based metal group Soen will unveil their fifth album today. The members have never shied away from challenging our perceptions of life and humanity, and “Imperial” continues unique journey through the psyche of our species and the conundrum of our times. Martin and Cody tell us about the eight songs that are crisp, sharp and supremely constructed…
RiskThedeath: Does the name of the group have any special meaning?
Martin & Cody: Not really. The name was meant to just be a word that doesn’t imply anything. It’s up to the listener to delve into the music and see what the music is about.
RTD: Soen is presented as a provocative, imperious and engaged group that generally has the lyrics revolve around the perception of life and humanity: is this group a good means of expression and liberation for you?
M & C: Of course it is. I think collectively we turn towards music to express the things that may not come up in everyday conversation, or the things that may be really personal, or even the things we’re passionate about. Emotions and ideas can be really complex and demand that they are communicated through music, so we are all grateful to have this medium in our lives.
RTD: While «Lotus» had rather positive themes: your new album «Imperial» looks like darker and more dynamic; in this perspective, what are the topics in this new opus?
M & C: A lot of the topics reflect what we see in the news every day. There is a lot going on in every part of the world, it’s a very tense time on our planet right now. There are a lot of injustices and calls for change, whether it be towards how we treat each other or how we treat the planet. We’re waking up to the reality that we really need to take care of each other and the earth if there is to be any optimism for the future. So the album is darker in this sense, but has a powerful energy that represents the power of the people.
RTD: You release «Imperial» only 2 years after your previous album: was it conceived during the lockdown? If not, how did you spend your days in lockdown?
M & C: The writing for Imperial had started towards the end of the « Lotus tours » in 2019. The recording phase had begun just early on in 2020 and the original plan was to continue recording whenever we had time between tours. As it turns out, the one silver lining about Covid was that we were able to have more time to do all the tracking – so yes, we spent the majority of our lockdown working hard on the record. It was nice to be able to be productive together during such an isolating year.
RTD: This new opus is produced by Iñaki Marconi but also mixed and mastered by Kane Churko (Ozzy Osbourne & Bob Dylan): the choice of this dream team and their work was it to give richness and dimension to your music to touch the sensitivity of your fans?
M & C: Inaki is essentially the 6th member in Soen and a brother to us so we knew that we wanted to work with him in producing the album. As for the mix, we were looking for someone who could fulfil the vision of making all of these songs as powerful as possible. We think it’s also important to not get too comfortable working with the same people all the time because your records will lack a sense of individuality. Kane was the one who really realized our vision and did all of the songs justice. The album sounds really powerful so we’re really happy with how it turned out.
RTD: The snake is very present in the visual of the band and we find it in the clip of «Monarch» but also on the artwork of your new album «Imperial»: is this snake the symbol of the energy or the good and the evil, or more simply because it’s an animal that fascinates you?
M & C: The snake historically does represent relevant meaning such as good and evil, transformation, and creativity. But symbolism is so subjective that the snake could mean something different to everyone. We’ve been fascinated reading what others feel the snake represents. Overall, we felt that the snake symbolized the overall themes of the record perfectly, whether they be political, spiritual or other. We also thought it made for a powerful and classy album cover.
RTD: «Monarch» states that «being kind and compassionate is not a sign of weakness»: are there any other messages delivered?
M & C: « Monarch » touches on what society expects out of a man, and how these expectations essentially turn these men into monsters. Feeling like you can’t show any weakness, or emotion is not healthy for any human. The result is unbalanced men who may resort to violence instead of just feeling comfortable being vulnerable. Being vulnerable and being a strong man aren’t mutually exclusive.
RTD: So you present an 8 tracks for a total of 40 minutes: can we say that it is a quiet short album but balanced ensemble, melodic and complex?
M & C: Yes, exactly. We felt it was as long as it needed to be. When choosing which tracks make the cut we always try to have the balance of melodic, complex, dynamic and powerful in mind.
RTD: What is the title that is particularly important to you among these new titles? And why?
M & C: It’s probably different for everyone, but I think Antagonist really hits home in 2020. People are realizing that we need to fight for positive change. You see different parts of the world fighting unique battles, but we as a collective can see that corruption, greed and abuse of power are affecting the quality of life for many in a serious way. “Life isn’t just to survive.”
RTD: Your tour in South America was interrupted because of the global pandemic: how did you bounce back when this bad news was announced?
M & C: It was definitely devastating. The Mexico shows were incredible, we were so welcomed there and you could tell the fans were really excited to see us there for the first time. We were really looking forward to each one of the remaining shows but when the news of Covid broke out it was also a very nervous time. Our mindset quickly became “okay, we need to get home safely to our families.” We were able to get back to feeling excited about music quickly because we had the new record to work on, but we’re definitely excited to get back to Latin America as soon as the dust settles.
RTD: You should have performed in France at Hellfest 2020, can we expect a French performance in 2021, with the tour of this new album?
M & C: Yes! We’ve been invited back to HellFest 2021. Hopefully it happens this time!
RTD: Finally, do you have a last word to finish this interview, and especially for your French fans?
M & C: Thank you for the thoughtful questions and we’re really hoping we’re able to come to France in 2021!
Thank you, Roger from Replica Promotion; Soen, and in particular Martin and Cody, for giving us some of their time to answer our questions…