Lotus is the forthcoming new studio album from Sweden-based progressive metal collective, Soen. Set for release via Silver Lining Music on February 1st, the nine songs comprising Lotus are intoxicating, addictive aural therapies, questioning much of today's darkness while juxtaposing them with moments of great escape and hope.

Produced by David Castillo and Iñaki Marconi at Ghostward Studios and Studio 6, the album features the first recorded Soen material with newest recruit, Canadian-born guitarist Cody Ford, whilst the center-point of the album remains those trademark, snap-heavy, progressive Soen riffs. Songs such as "Rival," "Covenant," and "Martyrs" are dissertations on modern societies, fraught with poetic, finitely designed confusion and chaos, yet as the name Lotus suggests, there is still strength, beauty, and purity to be extracted from what at times seems like an endless cycle of human regression.

Writes Angry Metal Guy in an advance investigation of the record, "Lotus is an album defined by its contrasts. On the one hand, the record has a metal core. The riffing is massive, with an overdriven guitar tone that strongly differentiates it from Lykaia, while drums and bass drive the songs forward. These moments can be straightforward Soen tracks like 'Opponent,' but there are moments like a hat-tip to death metal riffing in 'Rival' or a proggy 'awkward headbanging moment' in 'Covenant' that mark Soen as a band with a metal heart... Lotus is also a haunting, fragile album. The album's softer tracks are no less intense than the heavy material and evoke the work of Pink Floyd ('Lotus') or Steven Wilson (doing Pink Floyd ['River']). In the tradition of the heart-wrenching 'The Words,' songs like 'Lunacy' and 'River' ache with loss and pain both lyrically and musically. In these moments, it's the keys and guitars which bear the delicate, melancholic tone."

The first single, "Rival", is available for streaming below. Lotus will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. For pre-orders, head here.

 
Lotus tracklisting:

"Opponent"
"Lascivious"
"Martyrs"
"Lotus"
"Covenant"
"Penance"
"River"
"Rival"
"Lunacy"

"Rival":

Soen will bring Lotus to European stages this spring on a near-three-week headlining tour from March 12th through April 6th. Support will be provided by Finland's Wheel and Denmark's Ghost Iris. For ticket info visit facebook.com/SoenMusic. Additional European dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Lineup:

Joel Ekelöf - vocals
Martin Lopez - drums
Lars Åhlund - keys, guitar
Stefan Stenberg - bass
Cody Ford - lead guitar