Soen, Reliance Review

by Rudy Palma

If you come to Soen for Joel Ekelöf’s voice, you will hear the poised authority, the controlled reach, and the way his tone rides heavy grooves with calm inevitability, Reliance delivers exactly what you expect. The question this seventh album raises isn’t about quality, but about latitude: whether consistency is strength or whether it is hardened into constraint.

This is, unmistakably, a vocalist’s album. The voice sits at the center of nearly every compositional decision. Choruses are built around it, dynamics orbit it, and emotional weight is carried almost entirely by vocal melody rather than instrumental risk. For fans who follow bands through singers, Reliance is immediately legible and accessible. For vocalists listening closely, it becomes a case study in how production and structure can subtly limit expression, even when the performance itself never falters.

Ekelöf remains a technically excellent singer. His pitch is secure, his upper register confident, and his delivery steady across tempos and intensities. He rarely strains, never loses command, and consistently lands the emotional intent implied by the melody.

What’s missing is not skill, but variance. Across Reliance, the vocal tone remains remarkably uniform. Compression and layered effects smooth over register shifts and emotional contrasts, creating a polished vocal surface that rarely changes color. Choruses arrive full, present, and immaculately framed, but they arrive in much the same timbre every time.

For vocalists, this sameness can create a subtle fatigue. The voice never surprises, never risks exposure, never breaks its own posture. Even strong melodic writing is softened by processing that evens out peaks before they can feel truly earned. Every emotional high is delivered cleanly, but safely.

“Primal” establishes the album’s sonic ceiling early. The vocals are aggressive and tightly processed, locked to the chugging riff beneath them. The delivery is forceful and assured, but the heavy effects immediately define the album’s boundaries. This is power presented without vulnerability, strength with no visible fracture lines.

“Mercenary” stands as one of Reliance‘s strongest vocal moments. The pre-chorus harmonies expand the soundstage, and the chorus allows Ekelöf to climb without strain. Here, the vocal arc finally feels dynamic rather than procedural. This shows how compelling his voice can be when allowed to stretch.

“Discordia” offers structural contrast with mellow verse against a crushing chorus, but vocally, the same tonal treatment persists. The brief moment of sweetness near the breakdown, where the delivery lightens and the timbre softens, hints at emotional depth that never fully unfolds. It’s a fleeting glimpse of restraint used expressively rather than mechanically.

“Axis” and “Huntress” further reinforce the album’s core identity. Strong melodies, consistent tone, and reliable delivery make these tracks immediately accessible, but they also underscore the album’s limitations. For singers in particular, the question becomes how many emotional shades are being left unexplored in favor of uniform impact.

The album’s most compelling moments arrive when the effects recede, and the voice finally can breathe. “Indifferent” is the clearest example. With piano, synths, and strings supporting rather than crowding the vocal, Ekelöf’s natural tone emerges. Reduced processing allows phrasing, breath, and subtle dynamic shaping to matter again. It’s not just one of the album’s best songs that shows how emotionally resonant this voice can be when it isn’t locked into a single register of intensity.

“Vellichor,” the album’s closer, opens with wordless vocals and a rare sense of openness. The clean, largely unaffected singing in the verse feels intimate and grounded. Harmonies float instead of stack. Unfortunately, the song never fully commits to this vulnerability. Rather than delivering a decisive vocal climax, it fades into atmosphere, leaving the album without a final emotional exhale.

For vocal-focused listeners, this moment is particularly frustrating, not because it fails, but because it suggests a depth the album never quite explores.

Songwriting, structure, and vocal processing fatigue are one of Reliance’s greatest challenges that lie in its repetition. Most tracks follow a familiar arc: introduction, verse, chorus, repetition, a brief instrumental break, and a final chorus. When paired with consistent vocal tone and processing, this structure causes even strong performances to blur together.

As a singer, it’s easy to admire the stamina and control required to deliver this material live. As a listener, it’s harder to ignore the desire for contrast. There is energy and life in a stripped-back chorus, a cracked note, a moment where the voice risks breaking rather than landing perfectly inside the song. The emotional weight is present. The danger is not.

Reliance confirms Joel Ekelöf as a commanding and reliable vocalist, but it also exposes the cost of over-control. Production choices and predictable song forms compress the emotional spectrum, making each chorus feel equally strong and equally colored.

For vocalists, the album becomes a lesson in how production can shape perception as much as performance. For metal fans, it remains a solid, modern record that prioritizes polish over risk. The voice is ready for more. The question is whether future Soen albums will let it step outside the frame.