Soilwork

24 September 2007 | 7:30 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

With a new album about to drop and an army of devoted fans that most bands would kill for, Soilwork are yet again set to take on the world of heavy music. Vocalist and all round nice guy Speed was spoke with us about his band’s new record “Sworn To A Great Divide”.

More Soilwork More Soilwork

With a new album about to drop and an army of devoted fans that most bands would kill for, Soilwork are yet again set to take on the world of heavy music.

Vocalist and all round nice guy Speed was spoke with us about his band’s new record “Sworn To A Great Divide”.

Interview w/ Speed (vocals) of

“Soilwork”

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By Cameron Chambers





Yeah, this is Speed man. 


Hey man, how are you? 


Very good man, how are you? 


Great man! Thanks so much for

speaking to use this evening! Let’s get right into it coz we’ve

only got 15 minutes. 


 


You guys have been pretty quiet

over the last 12 months, what was it like actually having some time

off? 


Well, it’s been cool but I’m

getting restless to tell you the truth. We spent so much time in the

studio and song writing has been keeping us busy. It took a lot of time

to write this record! 


We started mid March and we were

in the studio until the end of July finishing the album… but I’m

just getting really restless now. 


“Sworn To A Great Divide”

is all set to hit stores on October 19th

– how would you compare it to previous Soilwork releases? 


Well, it’s almost a best of

album. It sums up our whole career in a way. We brought back the thrashier

elements of the past, and our twin guitar harmonies as well as our newer,

more heavy stuff as well as our groovy elements as well. 


We really thin we’ve made a

solid album and one that contains everything that represents us. 


This is the first Soilwork

record without long-time guitarist/songwriter Peter Wichers

– how did his departure affect the band? Were you concerned about

your ability as a band to put together another album without him?

Of course it made us sad to see

him go… we started the band together. It was really hard but we felt

we had more to give as a band and we really wanted to turn it into something

good you know? Something really positive! 


I think we managed to do that

and once we started writing the inspiration just started to flow out

of us, one song after another! It was a healthy challenge and we feel

stronger now because of it.  


We are so proud of the band and

really happy that we made something out of it all. 


Did Peter leaving the band

force you guys to collaborate on your songs more as a group rather than

being guided by one main song writer? 


After Peter jumped off we didn’t

really think of it like that. It wasn’t like “who’s going to be

the songwriter”? We just said if you’ve got the inspiration to write

music then let’s see what happens. 


It was the first the whole band

has been involved this way and by the end of it we had 30 songs to choose

from... like I said, that was the first time that’s happened! It was

really cool! 


The whole band worked together

and our new guitarist Daniel was also contributing a lot of stuff towards

the album. He didn’t have to adjust to Soilwork, it was just so natural

for him. 


What were some of your

musical and lyrical influences when writing

“Sworn To A Great Divide” - both on a personal level and as a band? 


It’s hard to say. In a way,

we felt like it was a new beginning and that we needed to sum up the

whole career of the band, but at the same time take it to a new level.

It was definitely a challenge mentally to get everything together and

to find the essence of Soilwork without sounding forced. 


What’s it

been like having Daniel (ex Dimension Zero guitarist) on board? Has

he had much input? Can we expect any more thrash like on DZ albums,

or old Soilwork albums? 


First of all we had lots of auditions

with different guitarists. Some of them just jammed with us and others

came out on tour. We met lots of great people but at the end of the

day Daniel was good at song writing and he incorporated so much new

stuff and so many new ideas. 


We felt he reconnected the band

in a way after everything that had happened. He contributed with a lot of stuff on the new album. He wrote the title track with Oli

and he and I wrote a few songs together as well. 


Devin Townsend produced

‘Natural Born Chaos’ - what was it like working with him a second

time around? Did he have much input on the way the vocals were sung/arranged? 


It was really great as always!

We got to know him when we did “Natural Born Chaos” and when we

toured with Strapping Young Lad. He’s such a great guy and so inspirational.

We wanted to work with him on “Figure Number 5” and “Stabbing

The Drama” but he wasn’t available. 


We were happy that we could get

it together this time. I was so happy that I could fly over and record

with him in his basement because he feels more comfortable at home.  


I spent 2 weeks with Devin and

it was great. Just 2 buddies locked in his basement. It was really relaxed

and he knows how to push me and you’ll hear it on this new record…

he made me sing my heart out! My vocals are more powerful than ever…

they’re more soulful in a way. 


Was there a reason Devin was

only brought on board for vocal production and not the entire record?  


Well, um… we felt we needed

a challenge to produce and record the album ourselves. We invested in

a lot of new equipment so we can record on our own the next album. We

had help from the guys in Darkane – Clauz and Peter to be precise

– they’re from the same town as us. 


It was really cool to be at home

and to record and then be able to go home after a days work and rest

your ears and get a better perspective on things. We too 5 months in

the studio but it was worth it!  


Now we have all the equipment

we need so we can do it ourselves. 


You guys have a European tour

commencing September 30th

– what do you have planned once that’s all wrapped up? 


Well, we’re going to play some

new songs which will be great. We did 250 shows for the “Stabbing

The Drama” album tour so I’m fed up that set, ha ha ha. 


It’ll be cool to get some new

songs in there but it’s going to be a challenge! It’s not easy to

pull off the new songs but we need that challenge and I know we can

do it. 


Any idea of when Australia

is going to see a return trip from Soilwork? 


It’s been a while, hasn’t

it? We went there 2 times for the “Figure Number 5” album but we

didn’t come out there at all for “Stabbing The Drama”. It’s

about fucking time hey!?  


Hopefully that will happen in

early 2008. We would love to get back out there because we loved it! 


Having evolved from a death

metal band into a far more melodic group, do you guys still enjoy playing

shows with straight up death metal bands or do you

prefer the reaction from a more open minded audience? 


It’s hard to say. We’ve toured

with metalcore and death metal bands… we’ve covered lots of different

genres. We feel that we built up such a great fan base and they’re

so loyal as well, so I feel they’re growing with our sound and developing

along with the music. They always expect a surprise with each release. 


We don’t really care what crowd

we play to, I just want to play! 


Do you think touring with more

“accessible” metal bands like Killswitch Engage has had an influence

on Soilwork’s music? 


Hard to say man. We love Killswitch

Engage and the feeling is mutual… they love Soilwork too! We’re

definitely influenced by their whole energy, both live and as songwriters.

They are great songwriters!  


They are one of the few bands

of that genre who write great songs that trigger an emotional response.  


In your opinion, who are some

bands doing some noteworthy at the moment? 


Um, I mean a lot of metalcore

bands in that genre are doing something which is very trendy right now

and there are so many bands that have just adopted someone else’s

sound. There’s no deeper meaning or substance to it. 


But some bands are doing something

unique. I mean, everything has been done these days but whenever a band

comes out and doesn’t something unique in such a saturated scene I

think they’re doing something great. 


I love Mastodon… 


Amazing band man… 


Definitely man. I love Opeth too.

Mastodon and Opeth are both so unique. 


If Soilwork could tour with

any 3 bands, who would they be and why?

Wow. Um, it would be really cool

to tour with Killswitch Engage again. We’ve toured with them before

and it was great. We’ve never toured with Opeth so that would be great

as well! 


Killswitch Engage, Opeth and…

let me see… maybe The Haunted again coz we love touring with them! 


That’s it mate, anything

you’d like to add? 


Well, as I said, I hope we’re

coming back very fucking soon! We miss Australia and we love it down

there so fingers crossed! 


Take care mate. 


 


 


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