The Soilwork frontman guides us through the band’s upcoming tenth studio release The Ride Majestic.
**The Ride Majestic **The intro really sets the mood that’s running through the whole album – Scandinavian melancholy at its best. I believe I wrote the intro before the rest of the song took form. The whole song has almost a levitating feeling over it with lots of double kicks and atmospheric guitars. The lyrics deal with the fear of dying and not being able to accept that the feelings and thoughts you’ve carried in your life will just cease to exist.
Alight In The Aftermath Possibly the most intense track on the album, it has very aggressive drumming and riffing with a lot of melodic twists and turns. It was a real challenge to record vocally. The lyrics try to capture the feeling of transcendence and a passage to the unknown.
Death In General A pretty mellow song, yet elaborate with a great atmosphere and a really melodic chorus. This song is extra special to me. It deals with my grandmother’s passing which was a big influence on this album – she was one of my best friends. It captures the feeling of saying goodbye for the last time: the last touch, the last words, the last eye contact.
Enemies In Fidelity A pretty straightforward song that still has a lot of surprises. The chorus is almost like Simon and Garfunkel goes black metal… it definitely stands out! The lyrics deal with the feeling of needing somebody, though the person mostly gives you grief. It’s about the need to escape or succumb to the suffering and find new strength, the ambivalence, the guilt and the respect towards your own existence. Being awakened and finding satisfaction through frustration and anger, to a point where it almost becomes addictive.
Petrichor By Sulphur Almost like a Scandinavian melodic death metal version of Hangar 18 by Megadeth, at least the intro. Then it goes into a really groovy riff – as our bassplayer Markus described it: ”Dracula-disco”. It has a really atmospheric bridge and chorus, I really had to push it on this one vocally. The lyrics deal with the feeling of never being enough in life, no matter what you’re doing, especially in a relationship perspective. Even in your best of times you somehow rather smell the sulphur instead of petrichor.
The Phantom An old school sounding song, reminding you of mid-‘90s Swedish death metal but with a twist. One of my old friends from back before I even started Soilwork is doing guest vocals on the track – it was a great way of reconnecting to what I’ve been doing all these years and what I’m currently doing. The lyrics are about insomnia and how you almost need to mentally enter a different person to be able to sleep: The Phantom.
**The Ride Majestic (Aspire Angelic) **There’s almost a King Crimson feel to this one, melodically that is. David wrote this version of The Ride Majestic and I wrote the opening track. Lyrically it deals with seeing a connection to your daily patterns without being able to change it. It’s about letting in the darkness and the power to use it to your advantage. There’s a very groovy chorus on this one, almost anthemic in a haunting way.
Whirl Of Pain Probably the heaviest track on the album – it almost has a metallic Black Sabbath feel to it. The song carries two choruses in a way and the song is very playful in a sense. The lyrics express the realisation of the end and the dark celebration that follows with no surrender. It describes the whirl you see on the cover – a passage to the unknown.
All Along Echoing Paths Probably the song on the album that has the most unexpected turns. It’ super melodic and stompy but has loads of blastbeats that make the song really take off. When I wrote the chorus I was influenced by Justin Sullivan of New Model Army. The chorus sounds sad but hopeful in a way that only NMA can pull off fully – I would say we came pretty close. The lyrics deal with finding strength to be alone and accepting your own existence.
**Shining Lights **Sylvain wrote this one. The intro sound sounds like The Cure-metal to me, I love it. It’s a very atmospheric and rhythmical song with lots of elaborate riffing. The lyrics deal with finding things to hold on to, in order to survive mentally. Sometimes they pass you by without you even noticing it. With age you do become better at recognising these things and signs.
**Father And Son Watching The World Go down **A very melodic ending to the album, iteems like this one could be a potential live favourite. It has a very stripped down verse with some really naked melodic vocals, then the song really takes off with lots of intensity and a really strong chorus. The lyrics are based on a nightmare I had some months ago. I dreamt that me and my dad was standing in the living room, realising the end of the world and the rumble that came with it. Not like a earthquake, it was different. Seeing the fear in each other’s eyes was horrifying and we held on to each other while everything around us just collapsed. The dream was so real, that I almost know what it would feel like, if the world ended.
The Ride Majestic is out 28th August, via Nuclear Blast.
