SOILWORK Övergivenheten | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on August 19th, 2022

Quick Background

Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers who left in 2012, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork (meaning "working from the ground up").  David Andersson joined in 2012 on the guitars and by now together with Björn are the main songwriters. 

Övergivenheten

Their twelfth studio album Övergivenheten can be translated to The Abandonment, which describes the overall album theme. The album was written and recorded over three sessions between January and December 2021. It features 14 tracks in 66 minutes including two short instrumentals. That's a long album albeit not as long as their 2013's The Living Infinite with 84 minutes. 

The album opens with the 1:30 acoustic and epic intro of the title track "Övergivenheten". From there the song builds into a full blown modern Soilwork trademark song. Aggressiveness, speed, but very melodic. Balancing Death Metal screams with clean singing. From the get go I get a Killswitch Engage vibe. And that's a recurrent feeling. "Is It in Your Darkness" combines this vibe specially in its big chorus with a strong At The Gates influence. "This Godless Universe" continues this direction but adds a Nightwishy intro. It's also a good example how versatile and dynamic Bjorn is as singer. On top of all the clean and aggressive vocal changes, here he reaches his highest notes on the album. "Electric Again" is one of my favorites as balances perfectly the aggression with heavy riffs and drumming and verses with super melodic and catchy chorus. 

"Vultures", a groovy song with a catchy melodic chorus. It also features a melodic and traditional metal guitar solo. And that's another major influence on this album: Traditional Metal and Hard Rock. "Dreams of Nowhere" with its fast tempo intro, very death metal and again another catchy chorus with clean vocals mixed with an aggressive pre-chorus, is the exemplification on how Soilwork mastered the skill of combining death metal with hard rock / traditional metal. Take  "Valleys of Gloam", another heavy metal song with classic metal guitar solo and where we see Bjorn exploring variations of his clean vocals. Further we have "Death, I Hear You Calling" which features a very 80's hard rock flavor that is very contagious. The pure metal side is so strong on this album that track #2 "Nous Sommes la Guerre" is a pure traditional heavy metal song, there's nothing Death Metal about it, for what it is, it's a great fucking song.

But overall it's all about balance. As on the other hand we have a very heavy song like "Golgata" which is a bit more old style Soilwork. Or the cinematic intro to "Harvest Spine" which is darker track. "On The Wings Of A Goddess Through Flaming Sheets Of Rain" is the gigantic title of the closing track and longest song on the album with over seven minutes. It's an aggressive fast tempo song but also featuring a very melodic mid-section. It's an engaging guitar song and a good closing of the album.

Recorded at Nordic Sound Lab in Skara, Sweden again with producer Thomas “Plec” Johansson, who also produced the last two projects, Övergivenheten sounds really good and no surprises there.

The Picky Guy

The album is a bit too long and I was worried about it, but at the end of the day, it is working for me. There's enough variability and experiments to keep it interesting. The other concern is: are they bringing too much The Night Flight Orchestra into Soilwork? At first I thought yes, but after repeated listens, I am totally fine with it. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Soilwork. has been evolving their sound for years into this perfect blend between Swedish Melo Death Metal meets Hard Rock/Traditional Metal. With Övergivenheten they may have found the perfect formula and it's their strongest album in many years. A very good achievement reaching easily 85/100 and I may upgrade it to Great later on. If it would be just a bit shorter. But overall for those who enjoy melo death and were happy with their latest albums, Övergivenheten will be a delight.  

SCORE: 87/100

Genre: Death Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on August 19th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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ARCH ENEMY Deceivers | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Century Media Records on August 12th, 2022

Quick Background

Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy was formed in 1995. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan Liiva who was replaced by German vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Gossow left the band in 2014 to become the group's manager and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz. The line-up is completed by long timers Daniel Erlandsson − drums and Sharlee D'Angelo − bass. Jeff Loomis joined as second guitar player in 2014. 

Deceivers

Deceivers is their eleventh studio and the follow-up to 2017's Will to Power, marking the longest gap between two of their studio albums. It is also the third studio album with Alissa. All music is composed by Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson. And the Lyrics by Michael or Alissa. The album features 11 songs in 45 minutes. That includes  "Mourning Star" as a short instrumental. 

The album opens with the third single "Handshake with Hell", the longest song on the album with almost 6 minutes that includes a short intro that serves as a perfect album opener. It takes about a minute for the song to fully explode and when it does it reminds of early Primal Fear albums. A very strong traditional heavy metal beat. But the hallmark of this song are the pre-choruses and bridge in which Alissa sings in plain clean vocals, as she used to do in her previous band. She also has a great clean voice and I think it was about time for Arch Enemy to leverage this tool for their advantage ( and not for ballads). But everything else around those parts is heavy and aggressive, including a trademark Arch Enemy chorus. And if you were worried after the first song that the band would go soft, then we get the sort of title track "Deceiver, Deceiver" which is one of the heaviest and fastest songs on the album. I love how heavy the chorus is, specially due to the backing vocals. Also great guitar work, it's a fantastic song. Together with "House of Mirrors" those were the first two singles from the album, each receiving a music video. "House of Mirrors" and "In the Eye of the Storm" are typical and strong Swedish melodic death metal anthems. 

"Sunset Over The Empire" goes a bit symphonic but overall keeps the same energy and template as the other singles. I love the breakdown and bridge though. "Spreading Black Wings" is a dark and somber song, influenced by symphonic black metal but still trademark Arch Enemy. 

 "The Watcher" is a fast tempo aggressive song during the verses, but it gets almost folk metal with a dance-friendly chorus, I'm on the fence on this one. But the interesting thing about this song is to demonstrate how aggressive the promotion of this album has been, the video for this song premiered on Aug 14, 2022  and it was filmed at Wacken Festival, Aug 6th, 2022, one week earlier only! By the way, the whole concert was live streamed and it was really good. 

Other than in "Handshake with Hell" clean vocals are only very subtlety used a couple of other times. I think that was a good balance. I'm specially happy that despite shooting to become an even bigger band, Arch Enemy remains heavy and aggressive, and thank God there are no ballads or slow tempo songs on this album. Deceivers was mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios. It's a good modern and bright production. 

The Picky Guy

I'd probably cut the last two songs to make the album even stronger. While they are not bad, both "One Last Time" and "Exiled from Earth" don't add much to the album. Specially as overall the songs on the album are already quite similar to each other. One missed opportunity is that Michael is underusing Jeff Loomis, the guy can shred and also writes some sick songs and riffs (remember Nevermore) but in Arch Enemy he is left as second lead guitar and has zero writing credits. Finally, one thing bothers me a little bit, the lyrics are full of clichés. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

In terms of marketing and promotion band and label went all in with Deceivers. It's understandable, they have a superstar line up, a charismatic front woman, good songs, and rich discography. And as we all know headliners are needed. So Century Media did not save money on their budget here: A fantastic production, a whopping 6 music videos, (so more than half of the album) and a long pre promotion of the album starting from October 2021 with the first single "Deceiver, Deceiver". Although the album was officially announced on January 2022. Overall I like the results, it's their strongest album with Alissa and a very good one, 82/100. 

SCORE: 82/100

Genre: Death Metal

Released by Century Media Records on August 12th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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AMON AMARTH The Great Heathen Army | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Metal Blade Records on August 5th, 2022

Quick Background

Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band formed in 1992. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history. Their first studio album, Once Sent from the Golden Hall, debuted in 1998. Five more studio releases followed, before the band saw its breakthrough with the 2008 album Twilight of the Thunder God. Which was actually my first album as well. Other than a few changes on the drums, the line up has been stable since 1998. 

The Great Heathen Army

The Great Heathen Army is their twelfth studio album and features 9 songs in 43 minutes. It is one of their heavier albums. There are some dark and heavy songs that are really powerful and in-your-face. The songs are short and direct, with simpler structures and easy choruses, in that sense, there's less epicness and grandiosity than in some previous records. 

"Get in the Ring" opens the album as a powerful song with a catchy bridge (that brings me back to the Twilight album), short guitar solo and cool guitar work. It was also released in advance of the album as a video single. The title track follows which starts with a groove metal guitar riff. But it is also a dark song as the verse starts. On the other hand it's the shortest song on the album and yet a lot of repetition, after a couple of listens I was a bit fed up already.   

"Saxons and Vikings" is one of my favorites song songs the album. It deals with the same subject as the title track but it also brings the Saxons' perspective, and what's special about it is that they asked Saxon to be on the song Biff Byford is singing on this with Hegg, and then Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt doing the solo for the song. Biff wrote his own parts, and I think this worked very well. "Oden Owns You All" is another of my favorites, heavy ant yet catchy, some more guitars on the spotlight working to bring that epic feeling that is missing in most of the other songs. Another song that goes well with it is "Dawn of Norsemen". The second longest song on the album is a bit more adventurous featuring a acoustic guitar interlude followed by a very heavy bridge where Hegg sings it very low and somber. The interesting thing is that this interlude and bridge are in between verse 2 and chorus given the song a bit more progressive structure. "Find a Way or Make One" has a quite traditional metal vibe, there's even a very nice twin guitar riff, no wonder they made a fun video for it, it is a certain new live favorite. And it is catchy and uplifting. "Skagul Rides with Me" interesting guitar work and fun chorus that beings me back to the Versus The World era. "The Serpent's Trail" closes the album without adding much to it. 

As expected we get a modern, clear and bright Andy Sneap production. The album artwork is quite unique for theses days, it brings us back to early Manowar or Kiss as we actually have a band picture on it, not something we see a lot these days.

The Picky Guy

The songs are short and really focused on the lyrics delivering. Which is not a problem in itself but it does create some issues for me. One is repetition and recycling of ideas. The second, it all becomes too simplistic. For example, there's a clear lack of guitar solos and even instrumental passages. It's all very economical. My least favorite song is "Heidrun" which departs from the overall album feel by being a more fun, sing along, happy metal song. Fun fact, it's probably the first song I ever hear about a goat. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Amon Amarth. know what they are doing and they are playing a safe hand with The Great Heathen Army. An album written to allow for touring, simple songs designed to be played live. Memorable and easy choruses will get stuck in your head, good for the short term but it can be a problem as the album ages. Short songs with a couple of guitar solos only and to the point. The lyric content is as expected fun. Not at all a bad album, but I was expecting more from such seasoned and talented guys. In any case still a good album, not great, that will please many fans and allow us to hear some fun tracks live, hopefully as soon as possible. 

SCORE: 79/100

Genre: Death Metal

Released by Metal Blade Records on August 5th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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Predicting Headliners June 2023 Festivals in Europe (Graspop/Hellfest/Download)

Here are my predictions and expectation for the summer festivals in Europe that happen around June. My focus is Graspop which I know very well. But since Download, Hellfest, Copenhell and Sweden Rock, all happen close to each other and tend to have a strong overlap of headliners, my predictions can apply to all of those. However, there are also local differences and preferences. If you are a goer of DL, HF, CH or SR, please comment below what your expectations and/or wishes are. Would my Graspop predictions apply for your festival? What are the differences? 

Of course some of those bands may still tour in the summer of 2023 as predicted below but they may go for the August festivals around WOA or arena tours in September.

Very High Probability (my full 6 headliners prediction for Graspop)

Friday

Pantera: The metal world was shocked and divided with the news that Pantera is "reuniting" in 2023 with Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown featuring Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in for late guitarist and drummer Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. The reported tour is set to take place in 2023 and feature major festivals and solo headlining performances across North America and Europe. I doubt that Graspop and Download will miss this history opportunity. Pantera has never played Graspop and although it's the real Pantera, it's something. 

Aerosmith: The hard rock veterans were scheduled for GMM 2020 but canceled the 2022 postponed edition. They have already headlined the festival in 2010 and 2007.  The band led by vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry are not scheduled to tour in 2022 (other than the Las Vegas concerts). So 2023 could be a big tour year for them. 

Saturday

Faith No More: The headliners of 2015 and scheduled to do it again in 2020 have ended up not making it to 2022 re-scheduled edition of Graspop. They are actually not touring in 2022. Albeit personal issues, I believe the organization will get them back in 2023.

Avenged Sevenfold is one of those bands that become more popular with every new release. With that they have been escalating the Graspop bill over the years coming from debut in 2006 and then four other participations. They were scheduled to co-headline GMM2020 Friday with Faith No More. But they are not touring in 2022, so they dropped the bill for this year. The band haven’t released a record since 2016’s The Stage. It's time for them to make a return, delivering the 2020 promise might turn into reality.

Sunday

Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard kicked off their North American Stadium Tour in June 2022. Phil Collen has revealed that the tour package will hit the European market in the summer of 2023. In that case they probably will bring along the full bill with Joan Jett and POISON. Meaning, MC and DL could be the co-headliners of one day of Hellfest and Graspop. MC headlined Graspop in 2009 and DF was already there twice including 2019 already just below the headliners of that year. 

High Probability (in case one of the six doesn't make it, here are the replacers)

Slipknot would be a safe bet but they are already doing summer festivals in Aug/2022, so would they do it again in 2023? If they do, Graspop is a sure destination, they have played there 7 times, 6 of them as headliners! They also have a new album coming up, so touring in 2023 is very likely. 

Ghost: This Swedish devil-worshipping ministry has evolved from an underground band into a major draw. With 2022’s Impera and the Impera Tour, Ghost have filling up arenas. The masked group led by Tobias Forge played Graspop 5 times including main stage before the headliner. It would be great to give them the chance to see what they can do on top. It is clear that the band have the hits and the presence to occupy the headliner spot from veterans such as KISS.

Parkway Drive: Scheduled for arena shows in 2022, and having a new album coming up in September 2022, the Aussies are a strong bet. They have 5 previous presences at Graspop under their belt, including headlining second stage in 2018. It's time for them to come back.

Amon Amarth: Swedish melodic death metal legends would already be headlining festivals during the summer of 2020. But after the twice cancelled festivals, they decided to go on a arena tour in Europe in 2022 instead. With that said, they honored their commitment to the legendary Wacken festival and headlined it this August. They have been at Graspop 6 times, so if they do go for a summer festival tour next year, I think Graspop will be one of their stops.

Medium Probability

Iron Maiden will tour in 2023 I think, they will go out to promote Senjutsu and play it in its entirety. But I think this will be an arena tour and not a summer festival one. However, they have played two Graspop in a row before (2007 with A Matter of the Beast  Tour and 2008 with Somewhere Back in Time Tour) so who knows? Maybe Download wants them there for their anniversary.

Note: It has been confirmed Maiden are headlining Wacken. So I upgraded them from low to medium. Although Graspop/Download are almost 2 months apart from Wacken.  

System of a Down: The headliners of  Graspop 2005 have never been back and I think the chances for Graspop 2023 are slim, even if they are touring next year which is unclear. 

Rage Against The Machine launched their Public Service Announcement tour on July 9, 2022, marking their first performance together in more than a decade. With 51 shows, this world tour dates extend into 2023 with last known date in April . First, I am not sure they will return a couple of months later for a summer festival leg of the tour. Even if they do, I think they may be more suitable for other festivals in the Benelux. 

Nightwish is a possibility, but they are doing a lot of shows in 2022, both arena and some festivals. On the other hand, as they are working on a new album, they may be back on tour in 2023. But when and how?

Low Probability (some names that have been mentioned but very unlikely, it's more of a wishlist)

Rammstein, it has happened before, 2017, but they are just on a big tour right now and even if they do come back next summer, Graspop is not their primary destination.

I'd love to see Manowar and they have tour dates set for 2023. But they are very difficult to work with and expensive. I don't think Graspop will go there. And certainly Hellfest won't try again.

AC/DC is too big for Graspop, maybe Download or Hellfest. If they tour, some promoters and organizers may go for a standalone stadium show instead of headlining Graspop.

Guns N' Roses is already touring this summer, I won't expect them back next year already.

Some other bands that will be high on the bill but not headlining Graspop

In Flames is close to being a resident band! With 8 appearances at Graspop since 1998 debut and last time in 2019. Should they be touring in June/23, they will be there again. 

 

Gojira has been to Grasop 7 times! 2019 being the latest, I think they will be back in 2023. Could they be headlining Hellfest?

Trivium has 6 appearances and last also being 2019. 

Bring Me The Horizon will probably headline Download. But I don't think they can be headliners outside the UK, not yet. But they could be high on the bill. They were in Graspop 2008, 2011 and 2014. I think Graspop is unlikely, maybe if they headline the Jupiler stage...but not the best use of their popularity.  

Again, if you are a goer of DL, HF, CH or SR, please comment below what your expectations and/or wishes are. Would my Graspop predictions apply for your festival? What are the differences? 

Major 2023 June Festivals

Graspop 16-17-18 June

Hellfest 16-17-18 June

Download 8-11 June

Copenhell - TBD but always in June

Sweden Rock - TBD but always in June