Dirk Virbeuren – Soilwork

If you’ve read some of my articles before, you’ll note my obsession with Scandinavia and how I’ve stuck by my theory that there is something in the waters of those countries that seem to lead to some of the best music, specifically heavy metal, in the world, bar none. Swedish metallers Soilwork undoubtedly fall under that category with their brand of elegantly brutal melodeath. The band is  still going strong after close to 17 years and have further established their constantly growing reputation of being one of the best with their tenth studio album ‘The Ride Majestic.’  Metal Obsession caught up with drummer genius Dirk Verbeuren to talk about their new album, the story behind it, the band’s busy schedule over the past two years and everything else Soilwork.

A few months into the release of the new record and this band has been pretty busy. ” We’re managing the best we can I guess” Dirk confesses. ” It’s busy but that’s just how it goes. We’re all pretty involved with everything at the moment and although it does get pretty manic at times, it’s exciting because we’re all really stoked about the new record. So anything to spread the word about it, I’m happy to do! The response has really been great too, very positive so much so that sometimes it makes me think that people wouldn’t dare to tell me that they don’t like it but really we’re happy with the reviews we’ve received so far. ” Busy doesn’t even begin to describe the activity level of this lot, with them having done an Asia only EP ‘Beyond The Infinite’, a live DVD, the double album which released in 2013 and not to mention a massive world tour, all in the span of two years. ” Yes we have been really busy, but I think we just decided to give ourselves a deadline because we figured that if we waited too long, we would just sit on our arses and not do anything. So we just decided to book some studio time and force ourselves to work hard and get it done. Honestly I think we work well under pressure and it turned out to be true.”

The Ride Majestic is a powerful and melancholic release to say the least and you always wonder the approach a band has taken or the level of complexity involved in creating such fine work. It certainly wasn’t easy for Soilwork.  ” Technically speaking we always start out with ideas on our own and then share them with each other. Once that’s done, we arrange things, see what we like and what works, what doesn’t. This time around the biggest difference would be the outside stuff that took place which had a really big impact on the band members. We had some family members pass away which definitely disrupted our flow of thought and affected us emotionally. This in turn led to it affecting people’s input but as far as the actual work goes, we always have a good system going where we first write our ideas, record and exchange them, try different things before we go into the studio. It’s a very organic process and we kept it simple this time despite the things we went through personally.” Having learnt this, I asked whether the album title was actually an ode to the loved ones who have passed on to which Dirk replied, ” Absolutely. It was definitely rough at times to focus on our work and on the album. Sometimes it just didn’t seem important enough but at the same time, in light of those events that did take place, it made us realize that all we can do is celebrate those lives we’ve lost and like you said, pay our respects to them. That kind of became the whole aura of the album because the people we lost were all in some way Soilwork supporters. Whether closely or from a distance, it means a lot us. So we wanted to take those feelings and that energy and do something with it. Fortunately it all worked out well in the end. It’s an album that is very close to our hearts.” This is what The Ride Majestic focuses on – that life is a very fragile thing. ” Exactly. I think that was kind of what we wanted to achieve without being to direct. We wanted it to be something that people could sense, that we could convey, and i think in the end its really because I think we all need a reminder life is short and precious,whether its our own life or the lives of those around us. Personally as I grow older I really tend to don’t let bad moments define me as much as in the past. We all go through difficult times but there are so many ways you can deal with that. It’s all a learning process and how you make the best of a bad situation.”

Speaking about how the artwork is connected to this strong theme, Dirk continues, “The initial idea came from some Gustav Dore paintings as well as having taken some inspiration from the cover for Bathory’s ‘Blood Fire Death’ album which is a classic Swedish death metal album. We wanted to convey that feeling of the dead writing to the heavens because there is something majestic about peoples live and the way they affect us especially when they leave. They do live on through us. They don’t really ever die unless we let them die in their minds. As long as they’re alive in  our memories then they will always be there. Our friend Robert who we contacted to do the artwork perfectly captured what we wanted and our feelings, the concept, because we really wanted it to be more of a painting. ”

Musically, The Ride Majestic is a powerful and melancholic release – you definitely feel the passion and hardwork that has gone into the making of this album. ” As cliche as it may sound, we always strive to grow as people and as musicians. We’re very fortunate to have a ton of input from all members of the band which has always been very important to us – not just two people writing and the rest executing those ideas. We all had equal amounts of influence on it. We worked towards this common goal to create something that is special and different  while also being open to letting the songs be what they are. The beautiful thing is that we let every song develop in its own way and eventually they turn into Soilwork songs in one way or another. For example ‘Ride Majestic‘ is a pretty Soilwork sounding song that doesn’t stray too far from what we’ve done in the past but then you take the second song and it sounds unlike anything we’ve ever done. It’s the same for a song like ‘Father and Son Watching the World Go Down‘ which is quite different or one like ‘The Phantom‘ which is a total old school Swedish melodeath track.  We kind of just open ourselves to all those different things. We don’t even know what its going to sound like until its done because its such a process but you do have a vague idea however the thing you learn is that there is no point in trying to force yourself in a certain direction. The concept as far as The Ride Majestic goes definitely forms a base but when it comes to the music, you have to let it live its own life. ”

In a world where music, particularly metal is constantly evolving, Dirk shared the band’s mantra to staying as strong as ever, despite the ups and downs that they’ve been through. ” It’s true what you say, and to be honest, I think the biggest thing is that we’re just very driven. We’ve formed that foundation, and really, you do need these different personalities to make things click. I think with the current line up, things are working out really well even though there have been conflicts and times when it hasn’t been easy at all. We work through it because we’re open to each other’s ideas and criticisms, ensure we’re understanding of everyone so that we can function as a unit which is probably the hardest thing for a band to do because everyone is they’re own person. Ultimately it’s the experience of constantly learning that helps us grow and communicate. As long as we’re in this, we’re going to give it 1000%.”

Enough said. Catch the Swedish melodeath giants touring across our country in less than a month, courtesy of Live Nation on the following dates. You do not want to miss this.

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