Riff Police! Pull Over! #97: Soilwork Vs Mayhem!

August 2015 saw the tenth studio album “The Ride Majestic” from Swedish Melodic Death Metal act Soilwork appear on record store shelves around the Globe via Nuclear Blast. Produced by David Castillo in conjunction with the band and the last to feature Belgian drummer Dirk Verbeuren who left the band a year later to join Megadeth. Teaming up with Testament vocalist Chuck Billy’s management group Breaking Bands for the album added to the intrigue around the record with guitarists David Andersson and Sylvain Coudret sharing bass duties as long time bassist Ola Flink exited stage left, to be replaced after it was completed by Markus Wibom. Writing was largely credited to vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid and Andersson while “Enemies in Fidelity” as a promotional single. One of the stand out tracks, “The Phantom” sees Pascal Poulsen of Odium lend his throat.

But you might have heard it before. 1994 saw Mayhem deliver their debut album “De Mysteriis Dom Santhanas“, Latin for “The Mystery of the Lord Satan” which they had begun writing back in 1987 but has been delayed while they were sidetracked by the suicide of vocalist Per “Dead” Ohlin and the murder of guitarist Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth. The end result however is remarkable and widely considered one of the most influential Black Metal albums of all time. Controversially Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar was chosen to fill Dead’s boots and while his style is atypical for Norwegian Black Metal when it was released, they have grown in statute over the years. But it’s the work of Euronymous, Jørn “Necrobutcher” Stubberud and Blackthorn in the guitar work that Andersson has been influenced by. “The Phantom” sounds like the album title track “De Mysteriis Dom Santhanas“.