SOILWORK - Backslash On The Backlash Page 2
by Martin Popoff

It sounds like the concrete lessons learned, then, from working with Devin Townsend two records back, have been shunted aside for this rawer new record. "I think we brought the confidence forward," reflects Speed on the Strapping effect. "He made us very confident and he made us really believe in what we were doing. He really brought out the best from every musician in the band. So I think that has helped a lot, to do our thing - do what we do."

"It's kind of like a declaration from Soilwork," says Speed, when asked about the title of the record - a characteristically short slamming spread of all of 43 minutes. "We really want to stab the musical drama because everything is so over-dramatized with all the subgenres. It used to be Gothenburg sound, but people don't talk about this much anymore. Now it's the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal. And I think we have a lot more to say rather than just being in a genre. I know it sounds like a clichˇ, but we really do have a very personal sound and with this title, we really want to show that we stand alone, stabbing the musical drama."

Also alluding to the fact that lyrically, Speed wanted to stab his own mental drama, somewhat purge bad thoughts by writing them out, he adds that, "I've never been this personal in my lyrics, and sometimes it was really hard to write the lyrics. I mean, I'm a happy man nowadays. I just got married Sept. 4th and it's kind of weird when you're so happy (laughs) to be able to write lyrics. But I have to dig really, really deep and sometimes bring up old demons. They really show the dark side of me. I've been dealing with stuff that I really didn't have to do. But I always have a little bit of hope in my lyrics. They're not totally depressing lyrics, like, 'Please kill me, someone;' it's not like that."

SOILWORK - Backslash On The Backlash Page 3