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32 results for “progressiveartist”
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@progressiveartist I don't know that any of us #readers "need to" read anything in particular but there are a lot of amazing stories based in south Asia and north Asia. Many that I've read have focussed on the diasporas. #TheJoyLuckClub by #AmyTan was one of the books that started me on my Asian journey (literally since I eventually moved to Việt Nam, twice). #AmitavGhosh is another writer that I've read a great deal of. #TheKiteRunner, by #KhaledHosseini. There are so many.
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@progressiveartist I don't know that any of us #readers "need to" read anything in particular but there are a lot of amazing stories based in south Asia and north Asia. Many that I've read have focussed on the diasporas. #TheJoyLuckClub by #AmyTan was one of the books that started me on my Asian journey (literally since I eventually moved to Việt Nam, twice). #AmitavGhosh is another writer that I've read a great deal of. #TheKiteRunner, by #KhaledHosseini. There are so many.
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@progressiveartist I don't know that any of us #readers "need to" read anything in particular but there are a lot of amazing stories based in south Asia and north Asia. Many that I've read have focussed on the diasporas. #TheJoyLuckClub by #AmyTan was one of the books that started me on my Asian journey (literally since I eventually moved to Việt Nam, twice). #AmitavGhosh is another writer that I've read a great deal of. #TheKiteRunner, by #KhaledHosseini. There are so many.
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@progressiveartist I don't know that any of us #readers "need to" read anything in particular but there are a lot of amazing stories based in south Asia and north Asia. Many that I've read have focussed on the diasporas. #TheJoyLuckClub by #AmyTan was one of the books that started me on my Asian journey (literally since I eventually moved to Việt Nam, twice). #AmitavGhosh is another writer that I've read a great deal of. #TheKiteRunner, by #KhaledHosseini. There are so many.
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@progressiveartist I don't know that any of us #readers "need to" read anything in particular but there are a lot of amazing stories based in south Asia and north Asia. Many that I've read have focussed on the diasporas. #TheJoyLuckClub by #AmyTan was one of the books that started me on my Asian journey (literally since I eventually moved to Việt Nam, twice). #AmitavGhosh is another writer that I've read a great deal of. #TheKiteRunner, by #KhaledHosseini. There are so many.
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@progressiveartist I was mistaken about Garland's Federalist society membership. He was a speaker at events and regular contributor.
I corrected the essay to reflect that change.
#Merrickgarland
#blackmastodon
#blackfedi
#blacktwitter
#fediverse
#writer
#educate
#comprehension
#context
#connotation -
@Lowie @progressiveartist
You might find something by visiting (following even? 😆)
#MusicToMutterersEars
Nothing if not eclectic! -
Not sure I’ve seen it in #Maryland just yet. Been trying to find the #cosmiccrisp here to no avail.
#Midwest ftw!
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#YahooEntertainment
There are so many progressive artists to whom I owe so much Roxy Music are a major part of who I am today: Tom G Warriors passion for proghttps://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/many-progressive-artists-whom-owe-081900061.html
#ProgressiveArtists #MusicRevolution #SocialChange #CreativeExpression #CultureEvolution
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Last one for tonight, so slowing back down to ease into Sunday evening with what I feel is a nice lullaby-ish song. I love this man's voice so much, and the lovely lilting pipes.
Everyone enjoy a relaxing remainder of your evening!
From #TransatlanticSessions:
Darrell Scott - Open Doorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw4IO9kEo2Y
All musicians for this session can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Sessions#Transatlantic_Sessions_3
#Music #NowPlaying #Americana #Roots #Celtic #Folk #Acoustic
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Well, thinking it's only fair to give #NanciGriffith another spin, too. So hard to pick out what to share, like digging into a treasure chest overflowing with jewels. So, I just decided to go with a classic live performance that brings a smile, rather than a tear. (I swear I still can't listen to her 2006 album Ruby's Torch without crying.)
Love at the Five and Dime from 1986 (This video is a live ACL performance.)
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Because I love #JohnPrine sooo much, I'm just gonna go ahead and follow the last song with the first of his songs I ever heard, at least performed by him. And, as is usual, he's got a story. Half of his appeal is the stories he tells.
In Spite of Ourselves with #IrisDement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8tTwXv4glY
Also a great story for the ages, is how Roger Ebert probably launched John's career: https://www.rogerebert.com/features/john-prine-american-legend
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I came late to #JohnPrine & #NanciGriffith (the 90s), but came to love them both, & their music, not enough space to say how much, but I'm unable to pick a fav among their songs.
Written & released by John in 1986, this duet was recorded in 1993.
Sadly, John passed from COVID Apr. 2020, & Nanci passed Aug. 2021, so this video is quite bittersweet, especially the final frame. 😢
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness
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A slow, mellow, sometimes funny tune for a slow, mellow Sunday morning.
This is a 14 minute track, but if you have memories of drives out to the country to visit extended family as a kid, running free thru the fields & woods, or if this lyric means anything to you:
"You can taste a little of the summer
My grandma's put it all in jars."this ballad might be as reminiscent for you as it is for me.
#GregBrown - Canned Goods
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Another of my many fav collaborations from the #TransatlanticSessions, features the late, great #JohnMartyn, with fellow Brit #DannyThompson on #StandupBass, Americans #KathyMattea, #Guitar and backing vocals, #JerryDouglass on #Dobro/#Resonator.
This is Martyn's original song, at least to my knowledge, but it will sound familiar to many who, like myself, may never have heard of him before these sessions.
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Susan Tedeschi and Tedeschi Trucks Band rockin' blues live, including absolutely blazing guitar work by both her and hubs, Derek Trucks. 😮
Little by Little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaFo95s8Xxk#Blues #Rock #Guitar #SlideGuitar #TedeschiTrucksBand #SusanTedeschi #DerekTrucks #NowPlaying
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Susan Tedeschi and Tedeschi Trucks Band rockin' blues live, including absolutely blazing guitar work by both her and hubs, Derek Trucks. 😮
Little by Little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaFo95s8Xxk#Blues #Rock #Guitar #SlideGuitar #TedeschiTrucksBand #SusanTedeschi #DerekTrucks #NowPlaying
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Susan Tedeschi and Tedeschi Trucks Band rockin' blues live, including absolutely blazing guitar work by both her and hubs, Derek Trucks. 😮
Little by Little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaFo95s8Xxk#Blues #Rock #Guitar #SlideGuitar #TedeschiTrucksBand #SusanTedeschi #DerekTrucks
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Rockin' out this morning with #CarolynWonderland, an incredible singer, songwriter and musician out of TX.
Fun fact: In 2011, she married comedian, A. Whitney Brown (formerly of SNL), in a ceremony conducted by #MichaelNesmith.
Misunderstood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsVMfARmqaI#Texas #Blues #Slideguitar #Music #Americana #Roots #NowPlaying
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Happy Saturday Morning! Rise and shine or wake and bake, as you choose. As another week ends (and what a week it was! 😬), take a much needed break to breathe, leave it all behind with me for just a little while and make some Good Noise. 😊
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZNu0LHMWU
#Weekend #Saturday #Feelgood #Music #Roots #Folk #Americana #Johngorka
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@Deglassco Can't miss with a #MichaelHarriot read. Nails it every time.
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@ladyunicornejg @[email protected] @[email protected] My thinking is, if it's not receiving oxygenated blood, it's suffocating. Maybe an #obstetrician or #obstetrics #nurse will clarify if they see these hashstags.
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@ladyunicornejg @charlesornstein @ProPublica My thinking is, if it's not receiving oxygenated blood, it's suffocating. Maybe an #obstetrician or #obstetrics #nurse will clarify if they see these hashstags.
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@ladyunicornejg @charlesornstein @ProPublica My thinking is, if it's not receiving oxygenated blood, it's suffocating. Maybe an #obstetrician or #obstetrics #nurse will clarify if they see these hashstags.
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Have spent the last hour and a half sipping Fresca while I pressed out 3 dozen anise pizzelles, thinking of my late gran. She was my best friend until she passed almost 29 years ago and I miss her so much.
The house smells amazing, and will for a week.
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Intro of sorts:
Half Italian, lefty city gal from OH who ditched a corporate career, now lefty rural gal living in the southern plains w/my husband of 25 yrs.
I create & sell assemblage jewelry using genuine new old stock (never b4 used) antique & vintage components. (Not why I'm here, tho.)
Interests, past & ongoing:
#drawing, #painting, #pottery, #macrame, #camping, #canoeing, #music, #reading, #cooking, #baking, former #HamRadio #stormspotter, #catmom, #dogroommate, #antiques #vintage
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Soen – Reliance Review By Dolphin WhispererAt their very best, the Sweden-by-way-of-globetrotting Soen has produced music ranging from forlorn and mystical to organ-blaring and heart-wrenching. While we often talk about progressive music in terms of its tendency for extravagance and meticulous detail, we skip that many of these artists iterate around ideas that lean insular and lacking broad appeal. By its many definitions, this recontextualizing of rock music has sought to express even more directly the hopes of its creators at whatever cost. But in that pool, bands like Soen have attempted both to attack with this personal expression, in the frenetic footwork of Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) and the lilting mic mastery of Joel Ekelöf, and lay barbed chorus with these same tools. However, the course of the progressive artist, no matter how light on genre checklist it may be, is one that belongs only to the artist.
Genre definition, of course, doesn’t matter in the face of potent music. On this iterative path toward simplicity—one carved first in large part by Lykaia’s jagged riffage over lockstep rhythm converging with Ekelöf’s growth as the focal point of all crescendos—Soen’s trajectory of snappy runtime, stadium-sized concoctions eschews definitive purity for incessant melody. Enlisting Tony Lindgren again on the board, Reliance mirrors the heavier guitar crunch from Memorial and cements itself with a dual-tone personality—one chunky, modern, a-djent-cent thump (“Discordia” in particular) and another bright, stadium harmonizing wail (“Mercenary,” “Axis,” “Unbound”). In both, Reliance wields immediacy and an ability to frame Ekelöf’s ascending runs in a package trimmed of distracting adornments. This does mean, unfortunately, that returning bassist Stefan Stenberg (last featured on Lotus) finds his spot in the roster less as a Tool-leaning jammer and more of a felt guitar-backing pulse.
Absent a warbling 4-stringer1, its svelte existence, Reliance lands self-similar at its heaviest moments, rendering these intensity climbs rather flat. To the seasoned Soen enjoyer, an air of familiarity surrounds the crawling bounce of “Mercenary” (or “Primal” or “Axis” or “Unbound” or “Draconian”).2 With Ekelöf falling in greater rhythm with the kick-riff patterns that adorn Soen’s compositions, Reliance slides from start to finish with an unsettling ease, these familiar flickers creating a near sense of déjà vu. From the intro whammy dive that explodes against alternate-picked strut to the delicate and multi-tracked vocal harmony that closes “Draconian,” a collage of fist-pumping anthems and lighter-waving crooners flood and fade and only threaten to tether to memory in their low differentiation presentation. Closer “Vellichor,” in that sense, feels awkward in its throwback to a more progressive attack, despite its Floydian guitar weeping and sonorous background accompaniment. Yet its ability to stand out in this presentation, along with other slower tracks like the arena-booming “Huntress” or the ode to angsty heartbreak “Indifferent,” gives Reliance a fighting chance for replayability.
Soen presenting unmistakably as Soen, however, allows Reliance to take chances on lower density arrangements with highlight details that will reward those who do latch on to its vision. Ekelöf himself sits central to many of these diversifying blips, with seconds-long tricks like letting out the gruffest ough in Soen history (“Primal”), pulling higher grit power punches with subtle underlying harmonies (“Discordia”), and finding a goofy smirk in an extra poppy pitch-shifted vocal doubling (“Drifter”). All of these techniques, to those old and new in Soen fandom, spell the potential for differentiation and attachment in a playing field that may appear uniform at first. And, of course, Soen continues to lean on the blaring talents of lead guitarist Cody Ford, whose varied bluesy aplomb never fails to tickle the “classic big solo” part of my listening brain.
Reliance continues to try to paint Soen as a gritty rock band with enough heart and lush detail to carve a unique spot in the popular realm. Soen’s energy still remains in this pursuit, even if the peak tracks of this outing don’t swing as hard as I’d hoped. This sort of comfort, though, keeps Reliance from ever firing a dud, which is an accomplishment now seven albums in. And with warmer and more expressive production than a major act like Alter Bridge3, and with more energy than a related act like Katatonia, Soen exists in a middle-ground identity primed for being a bridge to a wide rock-loving audience, even if Reliance leaves me just to the side nodding in appreciation and curiosity to see who crosses over.
Rating: Good.
#2026 #30 #AlterBridge #AlternativeRock #Jan26 #Katatonia #Opeth #ProgressiveRock #Reliance #SilverLiningMusic #Soen
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Silver Lining Music
Websites: soenmusic.com | facebook.com/soenmusic
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026 -
Soen – Reliance Review By Dolphin WhispererAt their very best, the Sweden-by-way-of-globetrotting Soen has produced music ranging from forlorn and mystical to organ-blaring and heart-wrenching. While we often talk about progressive music in terms of its tendency for extravagance and meticulous detail, we skip that many of these artists iterate around ideas that lean insular and lacking broad appeal. By its many definitions, this recontextualizing of rock music has sought to express even more directly the hopes of its creators at whatever cost. But in that pool, bands like Soen have attempted both to attack with this personal expression, in the frenetic footwork of Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) and the lilting mic mastery of Joel Ekelöf, and lay barbed chorus with these same tools. However, the course of the progressive artist, no matter how light on genre checklist it may be, is one that belongs only to the artist.
Genre definition, of course, doesn’t matter in the face of potent music. On this iterative path toward simplicity—one carved first in large part by Lykaia’s jagged riffage over lockstep rhythm converging with Ekelöf’s growth as the focal point of all crescendos—Soen’s trajectory of snappy runtime, stadium-sized concoctions eschews definitive purity for incessant melody. Enlisting Tony Lindgren again on the board, Reliance mirrors the heavier guitar crunch from Memorial and cements itself with a dual-tone personality—one chunky, modern, a-djent-cent thump (“Discordia” in particular) and another bright, stadium harmonizing wail (“Mercenary,” “Axis,” “Unbound”). In both, Reliance wields immediacy and an ability to frame Ekelöf’s ascending runs in a package trimmed of distracting adornments. This does mean, unfortunately, that returning bassist Stefan Stenberg (last featured on Lotus) finds his spot in the roster less as a Tool-leaning jammer and more of a felt guitar-backing pulse.
Absent a warbling 4-stringer1, its svelte existence, Reliance lands self-similar at its heaviest moments, rendering these intensity climbs rather flat. To the seasoned Soen enjoyer, an air of familiarity surrounds the crawling bounce of “Mercenary” (or “Primal” or “Axis” or “Unbound” or “Draconian”).2 With Ekelöf falling in greater rhythm with the kick-riff patterns that adorn Soen’s compositions, Reliance slides from start to finish with an unsettling ease, these familiar flickers creating a near sense of déjà vu. From the intro whammy dive that explodes against alternate-picked strut to the delicate and multi-tracked vocal harmony that closes “Draconian,” a collage of fist-pumping anthems and lighter-waving crooners flood and fade and only threaten to tether to memory in their low differentiation presentation. Closer “Vellichor,” in that sense, feels awkward in its throwback to a more progressive attack, despite its Floydian guitar weeping and sonorous background accompaniment. Yet its ability to stand out in this presentation, along with other slower tracks like the arena-booming “Huntress” or the ode to angsty heartbreak “Indifferent,” gives Reliance a fighting chance for replayability.
Soen presenting unmistakably as Soen, however, allows Reliance to take chances on lower density arrangements with highlight details that will reward those who do latch on to its vision. Ekelöf himself sits central to many of these diversifying blips, with seconds-long tricks like letting out the gruffest ough in Soen history (“Primal”), pulling higher grit power punches with subtle underlying harmonies (“Discordia”), and finding a goofy smirk in an extra poppy pitch-shifted vocal doubling (“Drifter”). All of these techniques, to those old and new in Soen fandom, spell the potential for differentiation and attachment in a playing field that may appear uniform at first. And, of course, Soen continues to lean on the blaring talents of lead guitarist Cody Ford, whose varied bluesy aplomb never fails to tickle the “classic big solo” part of my listening brain.
Reliance continues to try to paint Soen as a gritty rock band with enough heart and lush detail to carve a unique spot in the popular realm. Soen’s energy still remains in this pursuit, even if the peak tracks of this outing don’t swing as hard as I’d hoped. This sort of comfort, though, keeps Reliance from ever firing a dud, which is an accomplishment now seven albums in. And with warmer and more expressive production than a major act like Alter Bridge3, and with more energy than a related act like Katatonia, Soen exists in a middle-ground identity primed for being a bridge to a wide rock-loving audience, even if Reliance leaves me just to the side nodding in appreciation and curiosity to see who crosses over.
Rating: Good.
#2026 #30 #AlterBridge #AlternativeRock #Jan26 #Katatonia #Opeth #ProgressiveRock #Reliance #SilverLiningMusic #Soen
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Silver Lining Music
Websites: soenmusic.com | facebook.com/soenmusic
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026 -
Soen – Reliance Review By Dolphin WhispererAt their very best, the Sweden-by-way-of-globetrotting Soen has produced music ranging from forlorn and mystical to organ-blaring and heart-wrenching. While we often talk about progressive music in terms of its tendency for extravagance and meticulous detail, we skip that many of these artists iterate around ideas that lean insular and lacking broad appeal. By its many definitions, this recontextualizing of rock music has sought to express even more directly the hopes of its creators at whatever cost. But in that pool, bands like Soen have attempted both to attack with this personal expression, in the frenetic footwork of Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) and the lilting mic mastery of Joel Ekelöf, and lay barbed chorus with these same tools. However, the course of the progressive artist, no matter how light on genre checklist it may be, is one that belongs only to the artist.
Genre definition, of course, doesn’t matter in the face of potent music. On this iterative path toward simplicity—one carved first in large part by Lykaia’s jagged riffage over lockstep rhythm converging with Ekelöf’s growth as the focal point of all crescendos—Soen’s trajectory of snappy runtime, stadium-sized concoctions eschews definitive purity for incessant melody. Enlisting Tony Lindgren again on the board, Reliance mirrors the heavier guitar crunch from Memorial and cements itself with a dual-tone personality—one chunky, modern, a-djent-cent thump (“Discordia” in particular) and another bright, stadium harmonizing wail (“Mercenary,” “Axis,” “Unbound”). In both, Reliance wields immediacy and an ability to frame Ekelöf’s ascending runs in a package trimmed of distracting adornments. This does mean, unfortunately, that returning bassist Stefan Stenberg (last featured on Lotus) finds his spot in the roster less as a Tool-leaning jammer and more of a felt guitar-backing pulse.
Absent a warbling 4-stringer1, its svelte existence, Reliance lands self-similar at its heaviest moments, rendering these intensity climbs rather flat. To the seasoned Soen enjoyer, an air of familiarity surrounds the crawling bounce of “Mercenary” (or “Primal” or “Axis” or “Unbound” or “Draconian”).2 With Ekelöf falling in greater rhythm with the kick-riff patterns that adorn Soen’s compositions, Reliance slides from start to finish with an unsettling ease, these familiar flickers creating a near sense of déjà vu. From the intro whammy dive that explodes against alternate-picked strut to the delicate and multi-tracked vocal harmony that closes “Draconian,” a collage of fist-pumping anthems and lighter-waving crooners flood and fade and only threaten to tether to memory in their low differentiation presentation. Closer “Vellichor,” in that sense, feels awkward in its throwback to a more progressive attack, despite its Floydian guitar weeping and sonorous background accompaniment. Yet its ability to stand out in this presentation, along with other slower tracks like the arena-booming “Huntress” or the ode to angsty heartbreak “Indifferent,” gives Reliance a fighting chance for replayability.
Soen presenting unmistakably as Soen, however, allows Reliance to take chances on lower density arrangements with highlight details that will reward those who do latch on to its vision. Ekelöf himself sits central to many of these diversifying blips, with seconds-long tricks like letting out the gruffest ough in Soen history (“Primal”), pulling higher grit power punches with subtle underlying harmonies (“Discordia”), and finding a goofy smirk in an extra poppy pitch-shifted vocal doubling (“Drifter”). All of these techniques, to those old and new in Soen fandom, spell the potential for differentiation and attachment in a playing field that may appear uniform at first. And, of course, Soen continues to lean on the blaring talents of lead guitarist Cody Ford, whose varied bluesy aplomb never fails to tickle the “classic big solo” part of my listening brain.
Reliance continues to try to paint Soen as a gritty rock band with enough heart and lush detail to carve a unique spot in the popular realm. Soen’s energy still remains in this pursuit, even if the peak tracks of this outing don’t swing as hard as I’d hoped. This sort of comfort, though, keeps Reliance from ever firing a dud, which is an accomplishment now seven albums in. And with warmer and more expressive production than a major act like Alter Bridge3, and with more energy than a related act like Katatonia, Soen exists in a middle-ground identity primed for being a bridge to a wide rock-loving audience, even if Reliance leaves me just to the side nodding in appreciation and curiosity to see who crosses over.
Rating: Good.
#2026 #30 #AlterBridge #AlternativeRock #Jan26 #Katatonia #Opeth #ProgressiveRock #Reliance #SilverLiningMusic #Soen
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Silver Lining Music
Websites: soenmusic.com | facebook.com/soenmusic
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026 -
Soen – Reliance Review By Dolphin WhispererAt their very best, the Sweden-by-way-of-globetrotting Soen has produced music ranging from forlorn and mystical to organ-blaring and heart-wrenching. While we often talk about progressive music in terms of its tendency for extravagance and meticulous detail, we skip that many of these artists iterate around ideas that lean insular and lacking broad appeal. By its many definitions, this recontextualizing of rock music has sought to express even more directly the hopes of its creators at whatever cost. But in that pool, bands like Soen have attempted both to attack with this personal expression, in the frenetic footwork of Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) and the lilting mic mastery of Joel Ekelöf, and lay barbed chorus with these same tools. However, the course of the progressive artist, no matter how light on genre checklist it may be, is one that belongs only to the artist.
Genre definition, of course, doesn’t matter in the face of potent music. On this iterative path toward simplicity—one carved first in large part by Lykaia’s jagged riffage over lockstep rhythm converging with Ekelöf’s growth as the focal point of all crescendos—Soen’s trajectory of snappy runtime, stadium-sized concoctions eschews definitive purity for incessant melody. Enlisting Tony Lindgren again on the board, Reliance mirrors the heavier guitar crunch from Memorial and cements itself with a dual-tone personality—one chunky, modern, a-djent-cent thump (“Discordia” in particular) and another bright, stadium harmonizing wail (“Mercenary,” “Axis,” “Unbound”). In both, Reliance wields immediacy and an ability to frame Ekelöf’s ascending runs in a package trimmed of distracting adornments. This does mean, unfortunately, that returning bassist Stefan Stenberg (last featured on Lotus) finds his spot in the roster less as a Tool-leaning jammer and more of a felt guitar-backing pulse.
Absent a warbling 4-stringer1, its svelte existence, Reliance lands self-similar at its heaviest moments, rendering these intensity climbs rather flat. To the seasoned Soen enjoyer, an air of familiarity surrounds the crawling bounce of “Mercenary” (or “Primal” or “Axis” or “Unbound” or “Draconian”).2 With Ekelöf falling in greater rhythm with the kick-riff patterns that adorn Soen’s compositions, Reliance slides from start to finish with an unsettling ease, these familiar flickers creating a near sense of déjà vu. From the intro whammy dive that explodes against alternate-picked strut to the delicate and multi-tracked vocal harmony that closes “Draconian,” a collage of fist-pumping anthems and lighter-waving crooners flood and fade and only threaten to tether to memory in their low differentiation presentation. Closer “Vellichor,” in that sense, feels awkward in its throwback to a more progressive attack, despite its Floydian guitar weeping and sonorous background accompaniment. Yet its ability to stand out in this presentation, along with other slower tracks like the arena-booming “Huntress” or the ode to angsty heartbreak “Indifferent,” gives Reliance a fighting chance for replayability.
Soen presenting unmistakably as Soen, however, allows Reliance to take chances on lower density arrangements with highlight details that will reward those who do latch on to its vision. Ekelöf himself sits central to many of these diversifying blips, with seconds-long tricks like letting out the gruffest ough in Soen history (“Primal”), pulling higher grit power punches with subtle underlying harmonies (“Discordia”), and finding a goofy smirk in an extra poppy pitch-shifted vocal doubling (“Drifter”). All of these techniques, to those old and new in Soen fandom, spell the potential for differentiation and attachment in a playing field that may appear uniform at first. And, of course, Soen continues to lean on the blaring talents of lead guitarist Cody Ford, whose varied bluesy aplomb never fails to tickle the “classic big solo” part of my listening brain.
Reliance continues to try to paint Soen as a gritty rock band with enough heart and lush detail to carve a unique spot in the popular realm. Soen’s energy still remains in this pursuit, even if the peak tracks of this outing don’t swing as hard as I’d hoped. This sort of comfort, though, keeps Reliance from ever firing a dud, which is an accomplishment now seven albums in. And with warmer and more expressive production than a major act like Alter Bridge3, and with more energy than a related act like Katatonia, Soen exists in a middle-ground identity primed for being a bridge to a wide rock-loving audience, even if Reliance leaves me just to the side nodding in appreciation and curiosity to see who crosses over.
Rating: Good.
#2026 #30 #AlterBridge #AlternativeRock #Jan26 #Katatonia #Opeth #ProgressiveRock #Reliance #SilverLiningMusic #Soen
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Silver Lining Music
Websites: soenmusic.com | facebook.com/soenmusic
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026