Soilwork

STYLE: ORIGIN: SwedenFORMED: 1995LABEL: Nuclear Blast
  • MEMBERS:
  • Björn "Speed" Strid – vocals
  • Sven Karlsson – keyboards
  • Sylvain Coudret – guitars
  • David Andersson – guitars
  • Markus Wibom - bass
  • Bastian Thusgaard – drums
BIOGRAPHY

Visionary Swedish musicians SOILWORK spent the last 5 years cementing their vast metal legacy. Most bands would be satisfied releasing one or two albums along with some touring but that is not SOILWORK. Their passion for the craft has led them to release a single and double album, a rarities collection, an exclusive EP for Asia, a live DVD and go on extensive world tours – no time to rest and boom! Their relentless commitment to their fans is what separates them from the rest of the metal community and is the reason they still continue to flourish even after 20 years.

2015 saw the release of their tenth studio album, The Ride Majestic. The album saw the addition of Markus Wibom’s (ex-HEARTS ALIVE) as bass player as well as picked up where the band left off with their critically acclaimed double album The Living Infinite. Musically, it explored darker grounds than ever before. It also ”strayed away a bit from the “regular song structures” and have been a bit more spontaneous as well, giving in for the moment and not care too much of the consequences so to speak,“ as singer Björn ”Speed“ Strid puts it. The album kept true to the amazingly catchy choruses, melodies and powerful riffs and drum attacks that are so connected with the SOILWORK universe.

Lyrically the band dug deep into the principle of life and death. Something SOILWORK tragically had to experience all the way through the production process of The Ride Majestic as Strid explains: “Just about every member of the band had a death in the family while recording the album. On top of that, a good friend of ours in a very promising and young band called CHRONUS from Helsingborg, also passed away out of nowhere. 19 years old. Absolutely terrible. We came up with this title to remember what we’ve gone through together and make it a hymn to those we’ve lost and celebrate their lives. It’s also a reminder that this life we’re living is a majestic ride after all. Hopefully that ride will somehow continue once we pass away. The majestic ride is eternal. I think that happens when you lose somebody close – you want them to live on. This is our tribute.“

Just before the release, a two-part documentary was presented to the fans giving an inside look at the band’s musical history. On August 28th, the album which included guest vocal appearances by SONIC SYNDICATE’s Nathan James and Pascal Poulsen of ODIUM, was released!

With the celebrated album in the hands of the masses, the band took to the road. The worldwide tour made its explosive start in the U.S. as direct support to SOULFLY. They continued to pave their way moving through Europe on a headlining run with HATESPHERE followed by stops to Australia and Japan. The Ride Majestic was in full steam with no stops in sight when they were faced with the departure of long-time drummer Dirk Verbeuren at the end of the second leg of the US tour. This marked a bittersweet moment as they were closing one chapter of the band’s story and welcoming a fresh face to the tour. Bastian Thusgaard was given the reins and stepped up to complete not only the summer festival season but the band’s long overdue first appearances in South America as well as the conclusion of the tour in Europe with ARCH ENEMY.

As the summer came to a close, the band looked onward to the release of a special collection of rarities titled Death Resonance. Unlike your average best-of output, it delivered two brand new tracks as well as rarely released songs of the past 11 years, going back until their opus magnum, Stabbing The Drama. Besides delivering more than 60 minutes of new and rare SOILWORK tunes, Death Resonance featured liner notes by the band as well as unreleased promo and live photos from the mentioned era.

Continuing In true SOILWORK form, they embarked on another quest across the US; this time headlining. This trek offered the band many special opportunities such as teaming up with New York Islanders for a Military appreciation day and ending a successful year. 2017 began on a high note, with the band touring with friends and labelmates KREATOR and SEPULTURA as well as selling out numerous shows along the way. 

This year holds many possibilities for SOILWORK especially with the announcement of Bastian Thusgaard as a permanent member of the band. Bjorn commented, “He’s been touring with us for quite a while and has been nothing short of amazing to work with, both on a musical level and on a personal level. Taking over after Dirk must have been pretty hard, but he has proven, time and time again, through our tours through 
North America, South America and Europe, that he is the perfect man for the job.” 

Bastian stated that, “I am truly honoured to be given the opportunity to continuously work with SOILWORK. A band that I grew up listening to and one of the key elements in my musical education. I feel 100% committed to SOILWORK and I’m looking forward to create music with my childhood heroes and to see what the future will bring.” 

SOILWORK continues to strive toward excellence no matter the elements that are thrown at them. With the Summer festivals quickly approaching and fall just around the corner, fans will witness the new chapter of the band’s legacy.

DISCOGRAPHY

Verkligheten / 2019

Verkligheten
  • Album Info
  • 2019
  • Nuclear Blast

The Ride Majestic / 2015

  • Album Info
  • 2015
  • Nuclear Blast

1. The Ride Majestic
2. Alight In The Aftermath
3. Death In General
4. Enemies In Fidelity
5. Petrichor By Sulphur
6. The Phantom
7. The Ride Majestic (Aspire Angellic)
8. Whirl Of Pain
9. All Along Echoing Paths
10. Shining Lights
11. Father And Son, Watching The World Go Down
12. Of Hollow Dreams
13. Ghosts And Thunder
14. The End Begins Below The Surface

 

The Ride Majestic is the tenth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band, Soilwork. It was released on August 28, 2015.

It is the last album to feature long time drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who left the band in July 2016 to join Megadeth.

The Living Infinite / 2013

  • Album Info
  • 2013
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Spectrum Of Eternity
2. Memories Confined
3. This Momentary Bliss
4. Tongue
5. The Living Infinite I
6. Let The First Wave Rise
7. Vesta
8. Realm Of The Wasted
9. The Windswept Mercy
10. Whispers And Lights
11. Entering Aeons
12. Long Live The Misanthrope
13. Drowning With Silence
14. Antidotes In Passing
15. Leech
16. The Living Infinite II
17. Loyal Shadow
18. Rise Above The Sentiment
19. Parasite Blues
20. Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard

 

The Living Infinite is the ninth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Soilwork, released on 27 February 2013 in Asia, 1 March 2013 in Europe, on 4 March 2013 in the UK and on March 5, 2013 in the US.

It is the band’s first double album. It is also the first Soilwork release to feature new guitarist David Andersson; founding guitarist Peter Wichers left Soilwork for the second time in 2012, making this the second album to not feature him. This also marks the band’s last album with longtime bassist Ola Flink who parted ways with the band right before the recording of the next album The Ride Majestic.

The Panic Broadcast / 2010

  • Album Info
  • 2010
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Late For The Kill, Early For The Slaughter
2. Two Lives Worth Of Reckoning
3. The Thrill
4. Deliverance Is Mine
5. Night Comes Clean
6. King Of The Threshold
7. Let This River Flow
8. Epitome
9. The Akuma Afterglow
10. Enter Dog Of Pavlov
11. Sweet Demise

 

The Panic Broadcast is the eighth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Soilwork, released July 2 in Europe and July 13 in North America, 2010.

The album marks the return of long-time Soilwork guitarist and founder Peter Wichers, who also picks up the role as the album’s producer, though Wichers would leave Soilwork again in 2012. The album also features the debut of new Lead/Rhythm guitarist Sylvain Coudret. Mixing was done by Jens Bogren. According to Nielsen SoundScan, The Panic Broadcast sold around 5,257 copies in its first week of sales in the United States. The album debuted at #88 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it their highest charting album in their entire career at the time.

Sworn to a Great Divide / 2007

  • Album Info
  • 2007
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Sworn To A Great Divide
2. Exile
3. Breeding Thorns
4. Your Beloved Scapegoat
5. The Pittsburgh Syndrome
6. I, Vermin
7. Light Discovering Darkness
8. As The Sleeper Awakes
9. Silent Bullet
10. Sick Heart River
11. 20 More Miles
12. Martyr
13. Sovereign

 

Sworn to a Great Divide is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. The album was released on 19 October 2007 for Europe and on 23 October 2007 for the US, both through Nuclear Blast. Everything aside from vocals was recorded at Not Quite Studios in Helsingborg.

This is the only album to include Daniel Antonsson on guitar who replaced founding member Peter Wichers after his late 2005 departure. It is also the last album to feature long-time guitarist Ola Frenning who left Soilwork in February 2008.

Sworn to a Great Divide was Soilwork’s biggest commercial success at the time of its release, selling approximately 5,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., charting at No. 148, and reaching No. 2 on the Top Heatseekers. The album in its entirety was put on Soilwork’s MySpace on 10 October 2007.

Due to other commitments, Devin Townsend only produced the vocal tracks. The remaining production duties were in the hands of Ola Frenning and Peter Wildoer. While speculation led many fans to believe this would be a sequel to the intense Natural Born ChaosSworn to a Great Divide instead continued the band’s more commercial progression, further deviating from the bands melodic death metal roots.

Stabbing the Drama / 2005

  • Album Info
  • 2005
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Stabbing The Drama
2. One With The Flies
3. Weapon Of Vanity
4. The Crestfallen
5. Nerve
6. Stalemate
7. Distance
8. Observation Slave
9. Fate In Motion
10. Blind Eye Halo
11. If Possible
12. Wherever Thorns May Grow
13. Killed By Ignition

 

Stabbing the Drama is the sixth full-length studio album released by Swedish metal band Soilwork. The record was released on February 28, 2005 via Nuclear Blast label.

For a time this was the last to feature long-time guitarist Peter Wichers, who left the band after the subsequent tour until rejoining in 2008.

Style-wise, this could be considered a more diverse album than the previous record, Figure Number Five, taking elements of the past and present, and potential future. Most of the songwriting is done by guitarist Peter Wichers, and the central musical theme contains a simpler sound than heard on prior albums, with a reduction of harmonic guitar leads and a more metalcore-centric approach, such as usage of stop-start rhythm guitar work and breakdowns. This is also the first album to feature new drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who brings a more technical approach to the band’s drumming compared to the previous two albums.

Some pressings of the CD have tracks three and four reversed, with parts of track three still at the start of track four. Various pressings of the CD also mislabeled the final track, “If Possible”, to the 12th Bonus Track “Wherever Thorns May Grow” which is only featured on the US and European limited digipak edition, respective the Japanese and Korean pressings. 1,000 copies were made in a limited collectors metal case in the shape of the Soilworker’s logo.

Threat Signal did a cover version of the song “Stabbing the Drama” along with Speed, Live.

Some copies of Stabbing the Drama were mastered using HDCD. Although it is unmarked, playing the album in a CD player able to decode HDCD will give superior sound quality.

Figure Number Five / 2003

  • Album Info
  • 2003
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Rejection Role
2. Overload
3. Figure Number Five
4. Strangler
5. Light The Torch
6. Departure Plan
7. Cranking The Sirens
8. Brickwalker
9. The Mindmaker
10. Distortion Sleep
11. Downfall 24
12. Bursting Out

 

Figure Number Five is the fifth full-length album released by the Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork. The record was released on 22 April 2003 through Nuclear Blast label. On this release, the band introduces more alternative metal sound than their melodic death metal style.

A few different editions of this album existed upon release. The normal release with eleven tracks, as well as a limited edition release with a second CD of their 1997 demo. The limited vinyl version of the album features two discs – this album and Natural Born Chaos, black and the other a white-colored vinyl. The Japanese version of the album includes one bonus track, entitled “Bursting Out.”

Natural Born Chaos / 2002

  • Album Info
  • 2002
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Follow The Hollow
2. As We Speak
3. The Flameout
4. Natural Born Chaos
5. Mindfields
6. The Bringer
7. Black Star Deceiver
8. Mercury Shadow
9. No More Angels
10. Soilworker’s Song Of The Damned

 

Natural Born Chaos is the fourth full-length studio album released by the Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork.

The album comes in a limited vinyl version and features two lps with this album and Figure Number Five in white and the other black. The album was voted the number one album by BW and BK magazine in 2002. A video was also made for “As We Speak”.

This is the first album with current keyboardist Sven Karlsson.

This is also the first release from the band to include elements, such as alternative metal, a style that would become more evident in the band’s following release, Figure Number Five.

A Predator's Portrait / 2001

Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait
  • Album Info
  • 2001
  • Nuclear Blast

1. Bastard Chain
2. Like the Average Stalker
3. Needlefeast
4. Neurotica Rampage
5. The Analyst
6. Grand Failure Anthem
7. Structure Divine
8. Shadowchild
9. Final Fatal Force
10. A Predator’s Portrait
11. Asylum Dance

 

A Predator’s Portrait is the third full-length studio album released by the Swedish melodic death metal band, Soilwork. It was released on 19 February 2001 and was reissued on 15 October 2013 in the U.S. and 18 October 2013 in Europe. This is the last album to feature Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg on keyboards.

This is the first album where Björn “Speed” Strid started utilizing clean vocals mixed with his traditional screaming style and the first Soilwork release to be on Nuclear Blast. The album was recorded at the same studio and at the same time that Opeth recorded their album Blackwater Park.

“Shadowchild” is a rerecording from their reissue of The Chainheart Machine.

The Chainheart Machine / 2000

  • Album Info
  • 2000
  • Listenable Records, Century Media

1. Chainheart Machine
2. Bulletbeast
3. Millionflame
4. Generation Speedkill
5. Neon Rebels
6. Possessing The Angels
7. Spirits Of The Future Sun
8. Machinegun Majesty
9. Room No 99

 

 

The Chainheart Machine is the second full-length studio album released by the Swedish band Soilwork.

This is the first Soilwork release to feature Ola Frenning and Henry Ranta.

There is a hidden track on “Room No. 99” as the song ends at 5:00 followed by silence until the 7:00 minute mark where the hidden track begins.

Steelbath Suicide / 1998

  • Album Info
  • 1998
  • Listenable Records, Century Media

1. Entering The Angel Diabolique
2 .Sadistic Lullabye
3. My Need
4. Skin After Skin
5. Wings Of Domain
6. Steelbath Suicide
7. In A Close Encounter
8. Centro De Predominio
9. Razorlives
10. Demon In Veins
11. The Aardvark Trail
12. Sadistic Lullabye (Live)

 

Steelbath Suicide is the debut full-length studio album from the melodic death metal band Soilwork. The record was released on May 20, 1998 through Listenable and Century Media labels.

The original release has two Japanese bonus tracks, “Disintegrated Skies” and “Burn,” a Deep Purple cover. Century Media re-released the album in 2000 with different cover art and a live track of “Sadistic Lullabye.”

This album is a firm example of the band’s immediate roots in Swedish death metal. The song “Demon in Veins”, is a revised version of “Wake Up Call” off their demo; the lyrics changed are in the chorus.

REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS

January 20th 2019 – the first cold day in Kraków since very long time. But the coldnes does not scared fans of good metal sounds. One hour before the door

March 18, 2019 by Justyna Klorek
TOURDATES
Date Venue City Country Info Tickets
2024-10-05T18:00:00O2 Academy BirminghamBirminghamUnited KingdomInfoTickets
2024-10-06T17:30:00Eventim ApolloLondonUnited KingdomInfoTickets
2024-10-08T18:00:00Zenith Paris - La VilletteParisFranceInfoTickets
2024-10-09T18:00:00RockhalEsch-sur-alzetteLuxembourgInfoTickets
2024-10-11T18:00:00Sporthalle HamburgHamburgGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-12T18:00:00Mitsubishi Electric HallDüsseldorfGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-13T18:00:00MAINSTAGE Brabanthallen's-hertogenboschNetherlandsInfoTickets
2024-10-15T18:00:00The HallZürichSwitzerlandInfoTickets
2024-10-16T18:00:00AlcatrazMilanItalyInfoTickets
2024-10-18T18:00:00SchleyerhalleStuttgartGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-19T18:00:00JahrhunderthalleFrankfurt Am MainGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-20T18:00:00ZenithMunichGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-22T18:00:00GasometerWienAustriaInfoTickets
2024-10-23T18:00:00Barba NegraBudapestHungaryInfoTickets
2024-10-25T18:00:00Sportovni Hala FortunaPragueCzechiaInfoTickets
2024-10-26T18:00:00Messe DresdenDresdenGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-27T18:00:00ColumbiahalleBerlinGermanyInfoTickets
2024-10-29T18:00:00Oslo Spektrum ArenaOsloNorwayInfoTickets
2024-10-31T19:00:00Malmö ArenaMalmöSwedenInfoTickets
2024-11-01T19:00:00ScandinaviumGoteborgSwedenInfoTickets
2024-11-02T18:00:00HovetStockholmSwedenInfoTickets
2024-11-03T18:00:00NordichallenSundsvallSwedenInfoTickets
2024-11-05T18:00:00Helsinki Ice HallHelsinkiFinlandInfoTickets
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