Soilwork – “Verkligheten” [Album Review]

I was turned on to Soilwork’s unique brand of melodic death metal back when I first heard their 2015 release, The Ride Majestic, and it was quickly added to my regular rotation. However, Death Resonance, the 2015 compilation release, was not one of my favs, so I was super excited to get a hold of this one and get some proper Soilwork once again tickling my ear canals.

The title track “Verkligheten” gets things started with an instrumental acoustic intro that does not even remotely foreshadow what is to come. “Awaken” then promptly explodes with a vicious metal attack comprising of blast beats, a killer riff, and vocalist Bjorn Strid’s guttural vocals rounding out the aural assault; to me, this is Soilwork at their best. The rest of the record follows suite and contains top-notch melodic death metal highlighted by Strid’s voice, effortlessly switching between clean and “a-man-possessed” vocals.

One of the things I like the most about this band is that, even though the music is aggressive and in-your-face, they always seem to find a way to incorporate big catchy choruses that force you to sing along; not something very common in the world of death metal. A really good example of this is the song “Stålfågel”, which, even though it arrives later in the disc, is still a killer tune.

Check out Soilwork’s official video for the single “Full Moon Shoals”.

Actually, for me, this record gets better as it progresses with tunes like, “Stålfågel”, “The Ageless Whisper”, and “Needles and Kin”, being some of my favourites on Verkligheten. At the end of the day, Soilwork’s Verkligheten is a record that sets the bar high for the remainder of 2019, and yet another Soilwork catalogue entry well worth the price of admission.

Verkligheten Track Listing:

01. Verkligheten
02. Awaken
03. Bleeder Despoiler
04. Full Moon Shoals
05. The Nurturing Glance
06. When the Universe Spoke
07. Stålfågel
08. The Wolves Are Back in Town
09. Witan
10. The Ageless Whisper
11. Needles and Kin
12. You Aquiver

Run Time: 50:24
Release Date: January 11, 2019
Record Label: Nuclear Blast

Want more from Soilwork? Check out the visualizer video for “Arrival”.