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""Memorial" is a warm and effective album, but also extremely predictable. Does Soen lack ambition?"
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3/5
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Soen continues to release albums at a metronomic pace. Since their debut album "Cognitive", the Swedes have made it a point of honour to deliver a new album every two or three years at most, at the risk of confusing speed with haste. Let's face it, since "Lotus", the evolution of the band's music has remained on the margins, Martin Lopez's band having decided to get rid of the progressive influences of the beginning to explore the lands of a modern metal of excellent workmanship, but all in all relatively lacking in originality. "Memorial" is no exception to the rule, following in the footsteps of "Imperial", with the same recipes that will excite the senses of fans and smell reheated to others.
However, Soen's sixth album is not without a few new features. The first and most striking is the addition of well-composed, highly melodic guitar soli on many tracks, the most notable being those on 'Fortress' and 'Tragedian', both of which are imbued with impeccable efficiency and feeling. The second novelty is the duet between Joel Ekelöf and Elisa Toffoli on the ballad 'Hollowed'. Although this track is a relatively routine affair, the frontman's emotional voice blends perfectly with that of the Italian singer.
For the rest, Soen does Soen: groovy modern metal ('Sincere'), powerful riffs ('Icon') and catchy choruses ('Unbreakable', 'Violence', 'Memorial'). It's beautiful, it's very effective, but it's also extremely predictable. Compositional tics abound, notably the almost systematic atmospheric bridges, and the vocal lines are fairly redundant from one album to the next, so much so that the listener is quickly torn between the real pleasure of listening to the album and the no less real sensation of being on far too familiar ground.
The cause is clear: Soen's music no longer has much to do with progressive metal. This wouldn't be a problem if it didn't reflect a lack of ambition, or even a certain tendency to take the easy way out. By trying too hard to appeal to an ever-widening audience, Soen tends to become just another band, which is rather annoying given the talent of the musicians who make it up. Although "Memorial" is a warm and pleasant album to listen to, it's just another Soen album. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Sincere
02. Unbreakable
03. Violence
04. Fortress
05. Hollowed (ft. Elisa)
06. Memorial
07. Incendiary
08. Tragedian
09. Icon
10. Vitals
LINEUP:
Cody Ford: Guitares
Joel Ekelof: Chant
Lars Enok Ahlund: Guitares / Claviers
Martin Lopez: Batterie
Oleksii “zlatoyar” Kobel: Basse
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(7) COMMENT(S)
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Je comprends les critiques sur l'originalité, et je les partage en partie. Il n'en reste pas moins que pour les fans, l'efficacité est au rendez-vous. Un bon album mais qui ne laissera pas de traces dans leur carrière.
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très bon album pour tant 
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Oui, le dernier Riverside par exemple dans un style progressif/jouissif
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Et pourtant ils le deviennent à mon sens car tout se ressemble : mélodies, chant, tempos. Soen commence malheureusement à emprunter la même voie de prévisibilité à outrance (dans un style pourtant très différent, on est d'accord). C'est dommage pour ces groupes. Tant pis, il y a tant d'autres groupes plus intéressants et récents à découvrir.
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Même si leur dernier opus est assez prévisible, les albums de Klone me semble tout sauf soporifique. Quant à Son, sans le batteur, c'est assez pauvre quand même....
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Top of the page
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READERS
3.5/5 (6 view(s))
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STAFF:
3.2/5 (5 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH SOEN
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LAST INTERVIEW
SOEN (DECEMBER 11, 2020)
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Without Martin Lopez, his usual sidekick, Joel Ekelöf, singer of Soen, came to present "Imperial", the new production of the Swedes, just for Music Waves!
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT SOEN
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