SOEN’s postponed Australian tour is back on, with shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in January. This is our chat with frontman Joel Ekelöf.
In the world of prog metal, SOEN need little introduction. There are few, if any, more revered and expansive outfits than the quintet from Stockholm, Sweden.
Renowned for their cinematic sound, refined musicianship and emotionally charged performances, they’ve created something that honours the human experience, using metal as the vehicle. Their music blends atmospheric progressive rock, hard-hitting riffs and considered lyricism.
It’s no wonder their influences span from Tool to Pink Floyd and beyond. They continue to challenge expectations without ever wavering from their authenticity or from what feels true to them.
Surprisingly, SOEN have never been to Australia, and there’s no better way to fix that than their upcoming run of Australian shows, rescheduled from the cancelled October tour. A family emergency, which struck just as the band were checking in for their flights to Australia, forced the postponement.
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But their commitment to fans has them playing Crowbar, Brisbane on Friday 15 January, Manning Bar, Sydney the next night, and rounding out the mini-tour on Sunday 17 January at Max Watts, Melbourne.
Each show promises an intensity that not many Australians will have witnessed at a concert before. For lead vocalist Joel Ekelöf, the anticipation of coming to Australia has been a mix of cultural intrigue and gratitude.
“I’m really glad to get a chance to go to Australia and prolong the good stuff for a while,” says Ekelöf. “I haven’t been there before. I’ve been everywhere but I haven’t been to Australia, which is amazing to be able to do. It’s like I’m a teenage kid that is supposed to do something I haven’t done before, so I’m really excited.
“I’ve heard the crowd there is, I mean, really enthusiastic, really into it. But I’m trying to keep the expectations low so that I can remain rather surprised. It’s going to be smaller shows, which means it’s going to be more intimate. We will be in direct contact with the fans in these venues.”
One sign of the band’s unfamiliarity with Australian gigs is Ekelöf’s curiosity about a ritual that’s become common at shows here. “I heard something about something called a shoey.”
When Mixdown asked him to explain what he’d heard, his description was surprisingly accurate.
“Um, okay, did I get this right? I get a shoe, and I’m supposed to drink the beer from the shoe, then I put it on my head. I have to prove that the shoe was empty though, right?”
Australian larrikinism aside, Ekelöf has had an interest in Australian music for a long time.
“When I was a teenager, one of my favourite bands was Silverchair,” he says. “Because I looked at them and saw how similar they were to me in age. They were 15 years old when they established an international career. That was huge, inspiring. As a result, all of my friends, we started our own bands.”
It’s been quite the journey for Ekelöf and SOEN since those teenage years, and one that has taught him a lot about surrender.
“It always turns out the way it should be, rather than the way you want it to be. Music can be good if you’re technical, or you have a plan and you can execute it. But music becomes great when you have that sparkle, a sparkle of chaos.
“Music is then based on a thing in the middle of it. It’s based on the one thing that we have at the end of the art. And you know, it’s not only a craft, but it has to have something else. Some kind of magic. Something that is very human. And then that kind of music is interesting to me.”
Ekelöf argues that the chaos of modern life, for all its horror and atrocity, provides the creative spark that SOEN’s music feeds off.
“What is inspiring is probably chaos in the world, generally speaking,” he says. “Nothing has been better for music than the last five or ten years. It’s always been horrible. It’s a tragedy. But it’s a good inspiration for our kind of music.
“We are consistently told to keep your chin up, smile, everything is fine, but it’s not great. Everything is not great. Like, why is that? We don’t have this stupidly happy world that they are trying to sell us, so why should I make music that subscribes to that narrative?”
Perhaps accepting the melancholy and grief that come with life is part of why SOEN can make the music they do. It takes courage to face how destructive and harrowing modern life has become, and for Ekelöf and the band, the metal community offers a supportive framework that makes that possible.
For anyone after music that reflects the times and carries a message of empowerment, delivered with plenty of energy, SOEN are a must-see.
Tickets for SOEN’s Australian shows are available here.
