The Dark Antagonists
A decade into their career, Soen have decided to take a different approach on their fifth album. More honest and raw, its underlying message is clear and concise. Martín López and Joel Ekelöf tell Prog why they got angry on Imperial.
Words: Holly Wright Main Image: Ola Lewitschnik
It’s a winter evening and two members of prog metal outfit Soen should be regaling
Prog
with anecdotes from their very first Latin America tour, but instead drummer Martín López is questioning his life choices.
“I’ve been a musician for 25 years and I realised that in one day it can all disappear and there’s nothing to fall back on,” he ponders.
Like everyone else, the ex-Opeth sticksman didn’t have the best 2020. Last March Soen managed to squeeze in a few gigs in Mexico City before Covid-19 was declared a pandemic and the rest of their tour, which was meant to extend across South America, got canned.
As the virus tore through continents leaving fatalities and job losses in its dust, suddenly artists were feeling the brunt of this economic recession and this particular musician, who’s had the luxury of playing on seminal prog metal albums and touring the world, is holed up in Stockholm fearing the worst.
“It’s not the same for architects and doctors; for musicians it doesn’t matter how good you are, no one’s really got your back,” he says.
But there’s a glimmer of hope. Soen have a new album out entitled Imperial, the followup to the acclaimed Lotus, which surprised and impressed prog and metal fans alike with its solid maturity and glossy songcraft. In the comfort of their homes in Stockholm, López and frontman Joel Ekelöf are here to talk about Imperial and, because it can’t be avoided, reflect on the current state of the world.