Interviews, Music
Oct 1, 2015

GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY WITH SOILWORK

There are bands in the world that set the mood, the emotions and allow your thoughts to wonder. A band who ignites a certain “je ne sais quoi” inside of you and allows you to feel melancholic, or the sense of nostalgia is Soilwork. A Swedish melodic death metal band with music fusion from the 70’s created by talented artists like David Andersson on lead guitar as well as clean melodic vocals by Bjorn “Speed” Strid.

In the basement of the Fonda Theater you’ll find a dark hall of rooms, quiet enough to be able to conduct interviews and have a brew before bands go on stage. Down there David Andersson (lead guitar) talked about what it’s like being part of Soilwork as well as his life off tour.

PPLA: One of the all time favorites Swedish melodic death metal bands who just released their new album “The Ride Majestic”, here we are with David Andersson (guitar), you have been touring with Soilwork on and off since 2006.

DA: I started touring with them being a session guitarist for various reasons since 2006, I started playing with them in 2013, when we started writing stuff for “The Living Infinite” the double set album.

PPLA: Is this album a take on melodic death metal?

DA: We did something new and different, we had parts where Bjorn was singing over blasts and stuff like that, and we incorporated the more progressive elements.

PPLA: What do you mean by progressive elements?

Soilwork, hard at work melting faces.

Soilwork, hard at work melting faces.

DA: The more 70’s progressive elements disguised as metal and I guess that is what we tried to give further in this album add the classic 70’s feel and incorporate that extreme drumming. We were trying to regain that melancholic Swedish, Scandinavian feel. In the mid 2000’s we lost the scandinavian metal feel, we sounded more like American metal. Bjorn and I wanted to regain that scandinavian melancholic metal.”

Melancholy is the right theme for Soilwork’s “The Ride Majestic” as it talks about “Death In General” a song that makes you feel what words can’t describe. A little darkness in a time of sorrow, a little pain does not kill the soul it only strengthens your mind and allows musicians to be creative. Soilwork had lost band members and personal loss were also in the midst of this bands career but Bjorn contacted Markus Wibom (bassist) and David Andersson (guitar) to join the band. Markus knew the band and he decided to join.

MW: Bjorn called me telling me he wanted to reform the band and I knew the guys so I knew it would be a great dynamic. After some changes in line up and other events Soilwork was back on the radar and we started to write music again.

_MG_8288PPLA: Every Soilwork fan out there can hear the black metal riffs and, Soilwork separates them selves from the rest what drives David Andersson to write music that is fast and furious with a fusion of melody?

DA: I listened to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, as I grew older I listened to modern fusion, I do more theory and use influences that are not metal and try to fuse them with metal sometimes we succeed.

An artist always has a song they love from the new recorded album more than others, whether its because they wrote the song in its entirety or it simply gets to their core, in this case David Andersson’s favorite song is the self titled song “The Ride Majestic” however his baby is “Whirl Of Pain.” This gentle metal composer is a full-time doctor and wakes up early enough to write music that drives crowds insane.

DA: Im really proud of the whole album, but one of my personal favorites is “Whirl of Pain”, I wrote it and its a simple song, but it has a doomish atmosphere. Ever heard the theme song Suicide is Painless of the TV Show MASH? It gives it that doom atmosphere and that’s what I was looking for when I wrote it.

Soilwork is a fusion of melody, lyrics filled with sorrow and set the atmosphere for the darkest days of our lives, they project a contagious energy on stage as they shred their guitars, and the drums never stop beating. Bjorn’s vocals instill euphoria and melancholy as he passionately goes from brutal to rhythmical clean vocals. Swedish Death Melodic Metal contributors, Soilwork, played a ten-song set, one that left fans chanting for more.

Written by: Jose Barrientos