LOTUS

Soen is a Experimental/Post Metal band from Stockholm, Sweden that was formed in 2004 by Martin Lopez (Opeth) on drums and Kim Plazbarzdis on guitars. It wasn't until 2010 before the band was completely formed with Joel Ekolof on vocals and Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Iced Earth). In 2012, they released their first album.

"Lotus" is the band's 4th album released in February of 2019. Their current line-up still consists of founder Martin Lopez and vocalist Joel Ekolof, but now also has Stefan Stenberg on bass, Lars Ahland on keyboards and Cody Ford on guitars.

The first track "Opponent" is a straightforward heavy metal rocker. Joel's vocals sound just like Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth. The track is obviously there to attract the type of fan that likes their Progressive Metal more watered down. "Lacivious" is a bit more interesting with a slightly softer feel, and a touch more progressive, but still with a simpler-than-Opeth sound. That sound continues with "Martyrs", the music is good, but still has a more commercial edge to it than on previous albums. The lyrics and message of the song is great, but otherwise, it's a typical heavy ballad.

"Lotus" is reminiscent of Anathema or Riverside, but in a more commercial way. It's a nice melodic metal ballad, but nothing we haven't heard before. There is a beautiful guitar solo on the instrumental break. The rest of the album continues in this same vein, the band has left behind the post metal sound of before and is moved to sounding like another heavy band trying to sound more complex than they really are as they strive for a commercial sound.

The music is decent enough, with some nice guitar solos and a few ballads, but it has all been done before, so nothing really stands out here. They seem to be trying to find that middle ground between Opeth (the good side) and Nickleback (the bad side), so any comments regarding that they sound like Tool are moot now, and they seem to lean more towards the Nickleback sound than Opeth. Anyway, it's still worth 3 stars, but I feel like it wears out it's welcome much too quickly. Not much progressive here.

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Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | Review this album | Report (Review #2138028)

Listening diary 4th July, 2021: Soen - Lotus (progressive rock/metal, 2019) Despite being on my radar for years, this is the first time I've really dug deep into Soen, and although it looks fairly standard on the surface, I've been surprised at how much depth there is here and how much it's gro ... (read more)

Report this review (#2592973) | Posted by Gallifrey | Wednesday, September 8, 2021 | Review Permanlink

SOEN comes with this fourth album definitely buried the ax of metal and experimentation: in the continuation of the previous albums which had well targeted hints of doom and dark, a bit of TOOL and the dark and psychedelic atmospheres of the first PINK FLOYD at times, we arrive here at a musical ... (read more)

Report this review (#2493275) | Posted by alainPP | Wednesday, January 13, 2021 | Review Permanlink

I had listened to Soen long ago, and I, sadly, thought it was too much of a Tool copy to be interesting to me. I love Tool, but one band doing that is enough for me. I read somewhere that Martin Lopez was tired and angry of the comparison and of the fact that people didn't listen to the music by ... (read more)

Report this review (#2216486) | Posted by Namya | Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | Review Permanlink

Review # 106 After the release of the very good Lykaia (2017), SOEN returned with an even better album. I added the album in my collection almost a month ago and I keep listening to it on a rather often basis. Yes, I will agree with all those who are stating that SOEN sound like a mix of Tool ... (read more)

Report this review (#2169159) | Posted by The Jester | Thursday, March 28, 2019 | Review Permanlink

Soen just keeps delivering!! On their fourth studio album the band continues with their signature sound and refining it, consolidating their unique "Soen-style" of songwriting and sound even more. Before we begin, just let me address something right away: Yes, their sound is still often compa ... (read more)

Report this review (#2136695) | Posted by Mind_Drive | Saturday, February 16, 2019 | Review Permanlink

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