Soen - IMPERIAL (2021) - A Power Metal fan’s first dip into the gray

What am I doing here?

I’ve been a metalhead my whole life. My earliest musical memories are the heavy blues of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, which eventually led me down the rabbit hole of Old School Heavy Metal and, later Power and Symphonic Metal genres.

I’ll be honest: I’ve always been a “clean vocal” guy. If I can’t follow the story, I usually lose interest. I still credit Metallica’s The Unforgiven for probably doubling my English vocabulary as a kid. But lately, I’ve felt the urge to move past the swords and dragons. I want to see what the “modern” scene has to offer, and maybe even explore the heavier, darker corners like Doom or Black Metal.

To start this adventure, I asked for a roadmap of essential modern albums. The top recommendation was Soen’s Imperial. I’d heard their track “Lotus” (from the 2019 album of the same name) and loved the atmosphere, so I decided this was the perfect place to start.

My Method: Three full, focused listens. No background noise. Just me, the speakers, and the music. First listen was with zero prior research, later I checked the bands strucutre and history and read the lyrics of songs as I listened along.

The First Listen: The Drummer is the Protagonist

I went in fresh, with no expections and knowing only two things: they are Swedish, and they are “Prog”. I know almost nothing about the genere except maybe a song or two from Dream Theater and Tool and that’s it.

The opening of “Lumerian” hooked me in seven seconds. That initial drum hit followed by the “fighting” guitars told me I was in for a ride. Coming from Power Metal, I’m used to a central guitar riff being the “main character” that the song is built around. On Imperial, there are some great riffs, but they aren’t the lead: the drums are. Take “Dissident,” for example. Halfway through, a guitar solo enters over a “tribal” drum pattern. Usually, the drums support the solo; here, the solo ends, the vocals return, but that drum pattern stays in the foreground. It’s the driving force of the entire composition.

The Vocals: Impact over Flash

Joel Ekelöf has a fascinating delivery. He doesn’t do “death growls,” and he isn’t trying to show off with Olympic-level vocal gymnastics. He does exactly what the song needs. Interestingly, the vocals often feel like a deliberate “interruption”: the music breaks, he delivers a line with immense gravity, and the band crashes back in. This creates a very intersting contrast in the song that is often surprising, causing me to double-take and making sure the song never loses my attention. And while he isn’t “flashy,” he does have few screams (specifically on “Antagonist” and “Dissident”) that could give Rob Halford a run for his money.

The Rhythm Section and the Pink Floyd Connection

Coming from Power Metal where the bass is often a galloping audible force, I struggled to find the ‘voice’ of the bass here. It feels more like an extension of the drum kit than a lead instrument.

As someone who usually latches onto the guitar, the solos here surprised me. They aren’t any “Dragon Force”-like “shredders.” There’s no 200-bpm sweep picking. Instead, solos on songs like “Illusion” and “Fortune” feel heavily influenced by David Gilmour. The solos are slow, tasteful, and atmospheric. They aren’t a mandatory “time-out” for the guitarist to show off; they are a continuation of the mood.

The stand-outs and the misses

On my first listen I listed Dissident, Antagonist and Monarch as highlights of the album. I am not sure if any of these songs were released as singles but any of them could carry the album. They all share a similar themes of oppression, feature a few epic screams and darker atmosphere. Antagonist is probably the fastest and heaviest song on the album while Dissident is the song that personally “hit” me the hardest.

Special mention needs to go the opener, “Lumerian” that a difficult job of selling the entire album and this little project of mine. And I must say it did a wonderful job. Also the album closer “Fortune” gives a sorrowful ending that lingers on and invites another reply of the album.

On the weaker side, my attention started to wander off a bit during “Modesty” - I will revisit the song on later listens but for the first time this was the only song that felt like a filler.

Second Listen

I forced myself to wait 48 hours before hitting play again. It was surprisingly difficult; even after one listen, lines like “I Believe…” from Lumerian and “Fire up your guns” from Antagonist were stuck in my head. That kind of immediate “earworm” factor is rare for me with a new band.

For this round, I had three specific goals: analyze the lyrics, find the bass, and try to separate the two guitar players. I failed at two of those.

The “Invisible” Rhythm Section

Despite my best efforts, the bass remained elusive. It fills the low end well enough, but it never steps out from the shadow of the kick drum. Similarly, the two guitars are almost impossible to tell apart. They don’t follow the classic “Lead vs. Rhythm” dynamic I’m used to. Instead, they blend into a single, thick texture. Even the solos feel like they belong to the song rather than the individual player. There’s no ego in any of the performances here.

Melancholy over Heroism

The lyrics were the biggest revelation this time. Coming from Power Metal, I expected “Antagonist” or “Monarch” to be heroic marches about victory. I was wrong.

There is a constant layer of despair and almost mourning here. Even when the music sounds slightly “happier”, like on Deceiver, the lyrics pull you back down: “In the waters of sin / I will drown my awareness of you.” It’s not about anger or winning a battle; it’s about shared suffering and finding a shoulder to lean on during hardships. It’s a very different kind of “heavy” than what I’m used to.

Album Flow and the “Filler” Test

While I belive this is not a concept album, some somgs did feel like continuations of eachother. For example I could notice similar ideas on “Lumerian” and “Antagonist”. It seems like the same story and structure that just builts futher. While I’m sure songs would stand well on their own, they shine as an album listened from start to finish.

My opinion on the tracklist stayed mostly the same. Modesty is still the low point for me; it feels a bit like a repeat of ideas we already heard in the first half of the album. However, the second half of that track does pick up the pace, which helped it hold my attention better than it did the first time around.

The Third Listen: Flow and Friction

By the third time through, the “newness” had worn off and I could just focus on how the album moves as a whole.

I spent most of this listen paying attention to the guitars. My initial impression held up: these are world-class players who have decided to stay completely “in character.” They don’t play for the sake of an exhibition; they play to build the atmosphere. It’s a level of restraint you don’t always see in metal.

The “Wake-up Call”

I also noticed how well the songs flow into one another; with one jarring exception. The jump from the atmospheric ending of “Illusion” into the aggressive start of “Antagonist” always makes me double-take. I can’t tell if it’s a brilliant “wake-up call” or just a slightly clunky transition, but it’s the one moment on the album that still catches me off guard.

Final Thoughts

Am I a Prog-Metal convert? It’s too early to say, but Soen has definitely earned a spot on my permanent playlist.

Coming from a Power Metal background, I had to adjust my expectations. I had to stop looking for the “big” guitar riff and start listening to the “big” drum pattern. I had to trade the heroic “victory” lyrics for something much darker and more melancholy.

It was a rewarding experience, even if I still wish the bass player got a bit more room to breathe. I don’t have enough experience with the genre yet to say where this ranks against other prog albums, but as a first step into a new style, Imperial felt like exactly what I needed.

Looking Ahead: A Blast from the Past

Now that I’ve survived my first dip into the modern prog with Soen, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. For my next review, I’m going back to an album that represents a massive crossroads for me: Blind Guardian’s A Night at the Opera (2002).

I remember when this album dropped over twenty years ago. It was a “love it or hate it” moment for many fans. To this day I still listen to “Battlefield” and the eleven-minute epic “And Then There Was Silence,” but the rest of the album has become a hazy memory.

The question is: How has my perspective changed in two decades? Does that famous “Wall of Sound” production hold up on my speakers, or will it feel like an over produced relic of the early 2000s?