Wait what? Another Soliloquium piece? Methinks we just finished commenting on Famine. But here we are. But – spacing albums too closely always bears a limited risk of producing diminishing returns. And it’s a real danger with many acts already struggling to maintain their current level of quality. And, often, the necessary oomph to take this mighty freight train to the next level gets lost in translation.
So, here Stefan Nordström is on our radar yet again. And on the surface, he is angry with a vengeance. There’s Upheaval in the air, and we’re unsure what train we’re on. Let’s find out.
Well, I gotta say. Soliloquium lets loose straight away and without restraint. Tightrope swoops in with a feisty, straight-in-yer-face riff. A clangy, gnarly yet somewhat melancholic Doom Death Metal piece with benefits. And it comes with a lot of astonishing variation baked into the whole chebang. In a way, this first track already hints at where Upheaval is headed. The second track, Contrariens, by contrast, turned into a moodier piece, which – come to think of it – is much more representative of the whole album.
Now, Upheaval finds old bassist Jonas Bergkvist missing in action. Instead, Henrik Ekholm, the long-time backup vocalist, fills the void and slaps that bass for him. But in the end, it won’t change Soliloquium‘s style to any measurable degree. You’ll again get the ‘usual’ mix of Gothic Metal, Doom, Melodic Doom, and Doom Death Metal, sometimes blackened and at other times a bit more traditional. All of that is backed by guest artists such as Vittorio Sabelli (clarinet) and Alessandro Sforza (lead guitar, harsh vocals), both of Dawn of a Dark Age1.
And again, straight on point, the record’s full of those (too) abrupt changes from harsh vocal interludes to clears. There are bands such as Alcest that are mastering these switches to great effect through carefully crafted songsmithing. But on Upheaval, the change is immediate, like a transformation from hell. One moment, blinding rage is enjoying a delicious kind of rant, and, suddenly, you’re in Post Metal multiverse where ambient beings dwell. Famine was already fond of them, which led to some frustration over at the RMR Office Tower. Yet on this album, things went kinda overboard fast and turned into one of those nagging negatives.
That said, genuine emotion of rage, sadness, and outright frustration is remarkably well presented in the aforementioned lyrics. Mainly expressed through Nordström‘s expertly crafted barks, growls, rasps, and clears. It is yet again Upheaval‘s moodiness that finds a valve of relief in those vocal gymnastics. Albeit a tad too many clear-voice passages may have found their way into the album this time. But let’s not forget the axework. From frugal ambient leads to complex riffs and solos, there is nothing that’s not to like. And as on the album’s predecessor, Xinês yet again delivers top-notch drum work that never gripes and – instead – drives the storyline forward.
Ultimately though, Upheaval did not impress us as much as Famine ever did. The songsmithery, the ideation, and arrangement are – as always – at very high levels of quality. And while it would seem that some bonus toughness is baked into this here record, the sentiment leaves the building relatively fast. Put differently, once Tightrope peters out, Soliloquium finds itself back at its old game. Some sort of déjà-vu. Only, this time, the avid listener is greeted with more subdued levels of performance. There’s some revolt in their tune and limited energy in their step this time. But a full-scale revolution? Not really.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Meuse Music | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 23 October 2026
- Great outfit, you should try them some day. -Ed.-↩