PyroMusic.net has recently posted an interview they conducted with SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren, where they discuss the bands Australian trek, their latest album Sworn To A Great Divide and the accusations that the band have sold out. An excerpt follows:

Pyromusic.net: Sworn To A Great Divide has been out for a while now. How do you think the fans are reacting to this one?

Dirk Verbeuren: "Well it's actually been very positive. It was kind of interesting to see how people were going to react to it given the lineup changes and stuff like that. It actually turned out really good, a lot of people have caught on to the band with that album or with Stabbing The Drama, which is great to get new fans. And even with the older fans of course there's always some people who prefer older or different albums, but overall it's been very good."

Pyromusic.net: You mentioned the lineup changes, one of which was Daniel Antonsson replacing long-time guitarist and songwriter Peter Wichers, who you obviously still have a pretty good working relationship with.

Dirk Verbeuren: "Yeah."

Pyromusic.net: Are you still keeping in pretty regular contact with him?

Dirk Verbeuren: "Yeah, absolutely. He and his wife are friends of mine and you know, same thing for the rest of the band. There was absolutely no bad blood between Peter and any of us. So I keep regular contact with him and whenever I get a chance to do something with him I do. He's a great guy and a great songwriter as well, so it's definitely a pleasure."

Pyromusic.net: Interesting. Okay, we'll get on to your recent collaboration with him a little later on. Back to the latest album- can you tell me what your favourite three songs are from it and why?

Dirk Verbeuren: "Let's see. I would say definitely 'As The Sleeper Awakes' is one of my favourites, because I think it's of a nice mix between the older and newer elements of Soilwork. It has a fast and technical side to it while at the same time it's pretty melodic as well. I think that's really a great song. I like '20 More Miles' a lot, kind of for the same reason- it's not a fast song but it's a pretty elaborate song with a lot of different parts to it. It also has a long instrumental middle bridge with a long solo and is just a very catchy song. And then probably 'The Pittsburgh Syndrome', 'cause it's such a kick ass, blasting little monster."

Pyromusic.net: I would definitely agree with the last one. You seem to include one or two of those Thrashier songs one each album- a few songs that are really fast, heavy and intense. Do you tend to get older fans who hear those songs and come up to you and say, 'Oh man, can you make a whole album like The Chainheart Machine again?'

Dirk Verbeuren: "It happens, yeah. Like I was saying before some people are more into that stuff and we get it every now and then. Every so often someone will walk up or send an e-mail and say, "are you guys going to do something like that again?" And you know, it's a part of Soilwork so there will definitely always be some really fast and intricate stuff like that for sure, but at the same time we don't really sit down and decide how an album's going to be. Not to disappoint anybody but I don't think we're going to sit down and say 'let's make another Chainheart Machine or let's make another Steelbath Suicide', because that's just not how we work. I don't think we could ever top those albums, they are what they are and they are that because of how the band was back then. If we did it now it would be different, people would probably be disappointed anyway or would be like, 'Yeah, it's not quite the same thing', so you know, we just move on and make the music that we want to make and it comes out the way it comes out."

Head to this location to read the interview in its entirety.