If there was ever a band that captured the stark difference between the label of ‘progressive’ and the genre of ‘prog,’ it’s Soen. Since their full-length debut ‘Cognitive’ in 2012, but especially following the release of breakout record ‘Lotus’ in 2019, the band have gotten quite comfy in their signature power ballad-heavy sound— in fairness, it’s a formula that’s seen success for the five-piece. New album ‘Reliance’ is yet more proof, though, that an artist without evolution will inevitably fade from relevancy: this is surely Soen’s most aggressively average work to date.

First track ‘Primal’ is arguably one of the strongest on the record, though perhaps that’s simply because the monotony hasn’t yet set in this early on. The cut establishes the tropes and sounds that will go on to be reused and recycled across the album, from the syncopated guitar chugs that make up its main riff to the overly flowery presentation of its chorus— Soen have done all this before, mind you, and they are doing it all yet again. At least this opening number brings some genuine heft and urgency to the table, using the reliable vocal talents of Joel Ekelöf to cry out against class inequality and exploitation (albeit with all the subtlety of a student communist society). If the band stand apart for any reason in 2026, it’s for their performances, which have always been the rock-solid foundation underpinning all of Soen’s past triumphs. Such talents as Martin Lopez on the drums and Cody Ford on the lead guitar are welcome to hear: it’s really just a shame, then, to see their playing wasted on a crop of tracks such as this.

We hope you enjoyed ‘Primal,’ because those same riffs patterns, song structures and vocal callouts are here to stay (each time becoming more and more disconnected from the ‘progressive’ label Soen fall under). There are a number of cuts across the record— ‘Huntress,’ ’Unbound,’ ‘Drifter’ and ‘Draconian,’ namely— that feel entirely interchangeable, as if each one was spat out by an AI from the same prompt. Even if there’s nothing all too wrong with the modern metal production or the generally dependable performances on these tracks, they leave so little to hold onto once they conclude that you might as well have skipped them altogether: it’s in these moments that you may realise that, for all the simplification their style has gone through, Soen are now essentially making music in the same vein as Disturbed. That’s not even mentioning the worst moment on ‘Reliance’ either, which is undoubtedly the swing-and-a-miss that is ‘Discordia’— even having waded through the track’s dated electric piano tones, meathead writing and ‘we-have-Meshuggah-at-home’ breakdown, we’ve yet to find the appeal in this absolute lowlight.

There are, of course, bright spots scattered throughout the album, and we’d be hard-pressed to describe this as an utter failure of a release: Soen’s music is so safe and formulaic at this point that no work of theirs could ever be unlistenable, even if it won’t hold your attention. ‘Mercenary’ brings some more prominent guitar work back into the fold, doing wonders to spice up another bland tune with some strong melodies and a guitar solo from Ford that completely saves the song: it’s disheartening to see the group misunderstanding their appeal so greatly as to deemphasise his playing across ‘Reliance,’ relegating some excellent solos to tracks as forgettable as ‘Unbound’ and ‘Huntress.’ It’s only on ‘Axis’ that Soen seem to remember who they are, and what they’re actually good at— the track’s more prog-leaning riffs and rapid-fire vocals are the shot of adrenaline the album really needed, though it really is a case of ‘too little, too late’ with this one. As for the softer offerings brought about by ‘Indifferent’ and closer ‘Vellichor,’ there’s not all too much to comment on: on a passably record full of cheesy moments, they are both passable and cheesy.

In 2026, Martin Lopez— the same man who used to play for Opeth, of all bands— sounds like a bang-average drummer: that tells you exactly what state Soen are in, and exactly how far off the mark ‘Reliance’ is. Anyone who’s enjoyed the group’s work, especially in the last seven or eight years, will find this to be more of the same, and maybe that’s no issue for some. When the results are this tame and predictable though, it feels like the band are straight up abandoning their ‘progressive’ label, diving into the middle of the road as hard as they can. If the five-piece’s next album sounds like this, we probably won’t be reviewing it— there simply won’t be anything left to say.