Album Review: Soilwork – Övergivenheten (Nuclear Blast Records)

Sweden’s melodic death metal veterans Soilwork are back with their first studio album in three years. Their twelfth and latest masterpiece Övergivenheten will be released on August 19th via Nuclear Blast Records.

Can you bloody believe it? Twelve albums in and Soilwork continue to push the boundaries of melo-death and what listeners expect from them. Their legendary status is assured, yet they’re more than willing to experiment at this incredible stage of their career.

Övergivenheten is wild ride, one that spans the entire Soilwork spectrum and then some. An album that is enormous in scope, imagination and length. Fourteen tracks, fourteen examples of exciting and interesting melodic death metal. Varied and expansive, Soilwork have really pushed the boat out here. In particular when it comes to melody and the different ways in which they utilise it.

It’s more than the riffs. It comes from a wide array of instrumental parts and just as impressively, with diverse vocal work. There are so many surprising moments throughout. Surprising moments like the violin solo that comes up in Electric Again. Or the piano and guitar soloing that makes up the intermission of Morgongåva/Stormfågel. Or even the rock epic that is Death, I Hear You Calling and the moving interlude of The Everlasting Flame.

Amazing stuff.

However, if you’re more interested in hearing what is still the core of Soilwork’s sound – melodic death metal, rest assured, Övergivenheten has plenty to offer. The massive sounding title track, the feral heaviness, killer chorus and thrilling guitar solo of Is It in Your Darkness, the crushing drumming that features on This Godless Universe and the dichotomy of heaviness and melody that comes from the stunner that is Golgata.

Stunning stuff.

It’s a journey of an album, that much is clear, yet it never feels arduous or sounds pretentious. It’s one of the most diverse Soilwork albums to date, holding the attention with ease, constantly surprising and consistently entertaining.

Soilwork – Övergivenheten Full Track Listing:

1. Övergivenheten
2. Nous Sommes la Guerre
3. Electric Again
4. Valleys of Gloam
5. Is It in Your Darkness
6. Vultures
7. Morgongåva/Stormfågel
8. Death, I Hear You Calling
9. This Godless Universe
10. Dreams of Nowhere
11. The Everlasting Flame
12. Golgata
13. Harvest Spine
14. On The Wings of A Goddess Through Flaming Sheets Of Rain

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