BW&BK Interview: SOILWORK – Make It A Double…

By Carl Begai

Out promoting Soilwork’s new album The Living Infinite, frontman Björn “Speed” Strid will tell you that as far as he’s concerned the band’s previous effort from 2010, The Panic Broadcast, didn’t get the attention it deserved. It was a record that washed away the bland taste of Sworn To A Great Divide (2007) with waves of thrash, colour and dynamics that really did deserve more than just the initial buzz out of the gate, but Strid doesn’t blame their record label for a lack of support or the fans for lack of taste. He chalks it up instead to a glaring lack of touring on the band’s part, who logged far fewer miles than in past years thanks in large part to the will-he-or-won’t-he status of founding guitarist Peter Wichers.

Soilwork 2

Having left the band in 2005 only to return in 2008 – and thus give Soilwork a much needed kick in the ass – Wichers found himself torn between commitments to the band and his personal life. Things eventually came to a head in June 2012 and he announced his (final?) departure, leaving Soilwork with a clear conscience and a clean slate. What better way to get back in the game doing double the work and churning out 20 songs for an official release?

“We always try to have the element of surprise in there whenever we go in to make a new album,” Strid says when Soilwork’s collective sanity sanity is called into question. Most bands have a hard enough time coughing up 10 songs with substance. “The real reason behind it… with all the chaos around Peter, I think we needed to turn things around and do something unique, something that stands out and turn it into something positive. We also wanted to show or prove to ourselves and the fans that there are other amazing songwriters in the band.”

Having different songwriters involved rather than just the Strid/Wichers seems to have had positive effect on the music as well, as The Living Infinite is definitely in the same park as The Panic Brodcast.

“For sure, and I think that was good for me. I definitely needed that because when Peter was a part of the band we knew each other so well musically, and in a situation like that sometimes you become too predictable. The fact that Peter was losing interest as well would have affected my work as well.” Continue reading BW&BK Interview: SOILWORK – Make It A Double…

SOILWORK – Getting Dirty With Doctor Dave

By Carl Begai

During a recent interview with vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid about his new retro-rock band Night Flight Orchestra for BW&BK (coming soon), we discussed the forthcoming Soilwork record The Living Infinite, which is currently be recorded in Sweden. Of particular interest for most fans is how the band is coping with the absence of guitarist Peter Wichers, who left the band (for the second time) this past June. Wichers originally left Soilwork in 2005 to spend more time with his family and broaden his career as a producer, only to return four years later.

“First of all, we were mentally prepared for the possibility that this might happen,” Strid reveals. “Peter was really back and forth with what he wanted to do, and while all this was going on we were writing songs. We had a mindset for the new album despite Peter not knowing what he wanted to do. In the end we got pretty sick of it because if you come back to the band and then you want to leave again, it’s not fair to the rest of us. He knew that, and in the end he made up his mind. We weren’t shocked that he left, so it was a little easier this time around.” Continue reading SOILWORK – Getting Dirty With Doctor Dave