Swedish metal giants Soilwork are heading our way next month as they tour their majestic new album Verkligheten. We spoke with guitarist David Andersson on what to expect, the musical changes and what the band is currently working on.

TEO: You are about to arrive back in Australia to promote Verkligheten. What can fans expect from the upcoming Soilwork shows?
David: Well, it’s absolutely great to go to Australia. The crowd are always enthusiastic for us. For a Swede, it’s quite special to go to the other side of the world and have people come and see you. It’s very exciting, even if you’ve done it a few times, it never gets old. We have not decided on the exact setlist yet. Naturally, there will be a focus on the new album, with a number of songs from the previous two albums but also some classics from the old days. The new songs are translating really well with audiences, with ‘Stålfågel’ already becoming quite the live anthem.

Bastian Thusgaard has joined the ranks as the new drummer. How has that helped evolve the sound of the band?
He has big shoes to fill after Dirk Verbeuren left to join Megadeth. Dirk is one of the best extreme metal drummers there is, however, Bastian is much more of an all-rounder. With Bastian, we can broaden our scope. It makes what we do more convincing when we try to be diverse. In the past, we would record drum tracks and that would be it. Now Bastian stays and adds in percussion elements. It’s much more of a team effort.

We like the traditional sound, but we also like to combine that with extreme elements to make new and interesting music. Clean singing over a blast beat for example—that creates a nice tension. I don’t hear many bands trying that, so we are always trying to evolve and take the music further. It’s important we evolve as a band, and so far, people like it.

You guys have been back in the studio recording recently, haven’t you?
Yes, we’ve done a new song which we hope to release as a single before the tour starts. We miss the studio and it was great to get back together. We have no plans for an album though, we just want to release one or a couple more songs soon. These days, the music industry is moving away from the standard tour/album cycle. Now it’s all about keeping up your presence. I think people appreciate that they get a new song every once in a while. These days, people don’t listen to albums; they stream or listen to playlists. I think we are moving towards that, so it’s important to stay creative this way. It’s important to show you still exist as a band rather than disappear at the end of the tour.

If the new song is released in time, will we hear it on this tour?
Definitely! We hope to play the song, we just need to get it released before the tour.

TOUR DATES
Thursday, 31 October 2019 – BRISBANE, The Triffid

Friday, 1 November 2019 – SYDNEY, Manning Bar

Saturday, 2 November 2019 – MELBOURNE, Max Watt’s

TICKETS
Available here.

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Photo: supplied