Let’s face it: Old Soilwork ain’t comin’ back. And that’s okay, because they’re doing something that’s still pretty good.
Heralded as one of the key bands in melodic death metal, Soilwork have stood strong as many of their peers flounder into self-parody. They’re one of the few to release several consecutive classics of modern metal (Chainheart Machine, Predator’s Portrait, Natural Born Chaos) and still have enough gas in the tank to move into new territory, adapting their sound over time. Since 2003’s Figure Number Five, Soilwork have veered away from their extreme metal roots, becoming a progressive but insanely accessible metal band. Their previous album, The Living Infinite, took such changes to an extreme, resulting in an ambitious albeit scattered double album; The Ride Majestic does little to change this formula aside from some tighter reins in the songwriting department and some much-welcomed curveballs into a sound that has almost run its course for three albums now.
Soilwork are still a metal band, but the abrasiveness and manic energy that made A Predator’s Portrait such a classic is gone, replaced by a near-clinical focus on sounding as tight and clean as possible. Nearly every song here has a grandiose chorus that caters to the crowd who can’t bring themselves to listen to music without any kind of clean vocals, but that’s not a bad thing thanks to the band’s ability to write effective hooks and leverage Speed Strid’s croon to their advantage. The past few albums have headed in this direction (Stabbing the Drama being the surest turning point), and The Ride Majestic just sees the band come full circle, refining some of the wandering, out-of-place ideas from the past two albums. The opening title track has a massive, anthemic chorus featuring some of Speed’s best clean vocals and some leads and solos that throw listeners back to Natural Born Chaos; “Enemies in Fidelity” establishes a motif of multi-layered clean vocals over punishing, blast-beating melodic metal, an idea that is used several times on the album to generally good effect.
Here’s my main issue with The Ride Majestic: Post-2010 Soilwork has become pretty predictable even with the new flourishes, like the obvious attempts to bring in more black/death vibes on songs like “The Phantom” and well-placed blast beats in “Alight in the Aftermath.” To the band’s credit, it seems like they’ve finally arrived at a cohesive unity of the elements that have made the past three albums so indistinct to me, and as a whole, The Ride Majestic is enjoyable, if a little too stuck in its own formulas and the band too comfortable in their own skin.
For analysis’ sake: “Death in General” can’t really seem to find its footing, jumping back and forth between a laid-back verse, a sugary chorus, and segments of melodic death metal alongside a generic metalcore rhythm; while it’s definitely a dynamic song in terms of movement and texture, it’s not the best songwriting even for modern Soilwork, who are the masters of the build-up and release. Similarly, “Petrichor by Sulphur” starts brilliantly with a fret-dancing riff, teasing the instrumental prowess from albums of old but degenerates into a second-rate Scar Symmetry imitation for its verses and chorus. When Soilwork nail it though, they nail it big time: “Aspire Angelic” is by far one of the biggest highlights of the album, with every melody, hook, and lead line finding the perfect balance of modern sheen, metallic grit, and dynamic songwriting, and closer “Father and Son, Watching the World Go Down” finally nailing down the soft verse/loud chorus dynamic that is so common on this album.
Simply put, The Ride Majestic is about what you’d expect from new Soilwork: Insanely catchy at points, nearly poppy, with enough to remind everyone that they’re still a metal band. Riff-wise, moments recall the brilliance of A Predator’s Portrait while others sound like outtakes from Stabbing the Drama recording sessions. As with the past couple albums, there are a few brilliant songs, some by-the-books skip material (“Shining Lights,” “All Along Echoing Paths,”), and a few merely decent attempts to try something new. Instrumentation is incredibly tight and polished as always, though the glossy production robs some of these songs of any real teeth. If you like the trajectory of the past two albums, you’ll dig The Ride Majestic. But if super-polished, sing-along metal isn’t your thing, you won’t find much to like here.
Rating: 3/5
The Ride Majestic is now available on CD, LP, and digital download through Nuclear Blast Records.