Everyone loves a redemption song, and Soilwork provided just that in this last decade with four of its best records to date. Plenty thought Soilwork was stagnating following the release of Sworn to a Great Divide in 2007. The band shot back excellently with The Panic Broadcast in 2010, answering many of its critics with a true return to form. This was only the start.
While we thought The Panic Broadcast was good, The Living Infinite (2013) was on another level. This behemoth of a double album proved to be the band’s magnum opus. The Living Infinite awarded Soilwork fans with 20 quality tracks split across two discs. It was brave, bold, and hugely powerful, with the band taking a slightly darker turn than they previously had done.
This dark turn continued with The Ride Majestic (2015). The Ride Majestic picked up from where The Living Infinite left-off and was, well, majestic. Sadly, however, The Ride Majestic was the last Soilwork record to feature drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who had shown just how insanely skilled he was in the three albums released in the decade thus far. Unfortunately, Verbeuren did prove to be a missing ingredient in Soilwork’s last record of the decade, Verkligheten (2019).
Verkligheten is a solid album, but I feel it borrows too much from Bjorn “Speed” Strid’s side project, The Night Flight Orchestra, for its own good. It’s not as dark as Soilwork’s previous three albums, unfortunately lacking a little of the bite and songwriting prowess of The Panic Broadcast, The Living Infinite, and The Ride Majestic. Despite the luke-warm ending to the decade from the band, Soilwork rose above its critics throughout and produced two good, and two spectacular albums in the process, all of which helped to advance and develop the band’s sound and style. No other band has managed to impress, advance, and excite as much as Soilwork has over the last ten years. Here’s to the next ten with our favourite melodic death metal band.
Toby Saunders' Rad Reviews 