Soilwork: Difference between revisions

Soilwork

Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band formed in late 1995, originally under the name Inferior Breed. In 1996, they changed their name to Soilwork to better fit their new sound. Their unique sound is a fusion of the classic Gothenburg metal sound with power-groove riffs of late 1970s, early 1980s British, and European metal, but in their most recent albums they have also introduced elements from American alternative metal and adopted a more melodic attitude. Their most recent work has more singing and lighter melodies than their earlier work, as well as a more polished production that brings out the strength of the drums.

In 2005, the band began to gain minor commercial success in the United States. Stabbing the Drama reached #12 and #21 on the Billboard Heatseeker and Independent album charts, respectively. They played the 2005 Ozzfest alongside Gothenburg melodic death metal band In Flames.

In late 2005, guitarist Peter Wichers left the band due to tour exhaustion and other personal issues. Wichers now does music production for other bands. Of all the line-up changes with Soilwork, this one comes as the biggest and most disappointing to Soilwork fans, as Wichers was a very important member of the band and has a style of guitar-playing that many believe cannot be duplicated.

As of February 4th, 2007, Soilwork were in search for a new guitarist living in Sweden. On the tours in 2006 they were using Andreas Holma (ex-Hypocrisy) as a short-term replacement. After their 2006 U.S. tour, they planned to choose one of the guitarists they had been touring with. On February 17th, the band announced while performing at the House of Metal Festival in Umeå that Daniel Antonsson was the permanent new guitarist.

The successor album to Stabbing the Drama is being written, the band are due to enter the studio on March 1st.

Band members

• Björn "Speed" Strid - vocals
• Ola Frenning - guitars
• Sven Karlsson - keyboards
• Ola Flink - bass
• Dirk Verbeuren - drums

Former band members

• Peter Wichers - guitars
• Henry Ranta - drums
• Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg - keyboards
• Ludvig Svartz - guitars
• Jimmy Persons - drums

Guitarist Position Hopefuls

• Daniel Antonsson - guitars (one of three - filled in European Headline Tour and Festivals '06)
• Andreas Holma - guitars (one of three - filled in on UK tour '06)
• David - guitars (one of three - filled in on NA tour '06)

Discography

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label	Peak	Sales
File:Steelbath suicide.jpg	1998	Steelbath Suicide	Listenable Records, Century Media	-	-
	2000	The Chainheart Machine	Listenable Records, Century Media	-	-
	2001	A Predator's Portrait	Nuclear Blast	-	-
	2002	Natural Born Chaos	Nuclear Blast	-	-
File:Figure NumberFivecover.jpg	2003	Figure Number Five	Nuclear Blast	-	-
	2005	Stabbing the Drama	Nuclear Blast	-	-

Demos/EPs

• In Dreams We Fall Into The Eternal Lake (1997 demo)
• The Early Chapters (2003 EP)

Singles

• Like the Average Stalker (2001}
• As We Speak (2002)
• Light the Torch (2003)
• Rejection Role (2003)
• Stabbing the Drama (2005)
• Nerve (2005)

Trivia

• There are two movie quotes on The Chainheart Machine. The first is, "Your suffering will be legendary even in hell" from Hellbound: Hellraiser II in the title track. The second is, "So you wanna play rough. Say hello to my little friend" from Scarface in "Bulletbeast".
• Their video for "Rejection Role" is a reverse of In Flames' video for "Trigger". Both are filmed in the same location, and include the performing band being heckled by the other. The two bands at one point in both videos confront each other for a fight on a set of steps. While the fight itself is not shown, the winner of the fight is assumed to be the performing band in each video. This is shown by one member of the other band having a black eye afterwards.
• The name "Soilwork" is a play on the concept of working from the ground up.
• Obviously the band's oldest member, guitarist Ola Frenning claims a few times on his online profile that his birthday is in "August 19??", or, if asking for his age, simply writes "too old for this shit."
• The "Light the Torch" video is a non-commercial school project made for Soilwork. It was produced in Sweden over a span of four months by four students studying computer graphics. This video was aired on European MTV.

External links

• Official website
• Official fansite
• Sven Karlsson interviewed by Highwire Daze (2006-02-20)
• Björn Strid interviewed by Rockdetector (2006-10-15)