After a while, even someone who writes about music for a hobby is bound to repeat his or herself. There are only so many angles, analytic tools, or perspectives that one person can provide. Enter Soen, a supergroup of sorts consisting of everyone’s bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Testament, etc.), drummer Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth and Amon Amarth), vocalist Joel Ekelöf (Willowtree), and guitarist Kim Platbarzdis. Debut Cognitive, initially out a year ago but seeing a wider release now, is not only giving me some serious reviewing déjà vu, but it also has me reaching to a very recent review for reference.
In my take on Kongh’s Sole Creation, I discussed how it can be quite difficult to ignore when a band very closely copies the most distinctive trait of a better-known band. However, where Kongh committed a very specific bit of plagiarism in how the vocals of David Johansson closely resemble the work of Yob’s Mike Scheidt, Soen’s theft is wider and all-encompassing. They aren’t just taking one distinctive aspect of a better known band, or even a few, but the entire sound of one of prog’s most unique and enduringly popular acts: Tool.
Soen’s near-tribute-band act is played by their entire cast. DiGiorgio is rarely his typical slinky-toned, fretless self, instead utilizing the very echoed and percussive sound employed by Tool’s Justin Chancellor, while Lopez plays like a chameleon, adapting his jazzy style to the needs of the music. The guitar work of Platbarzdis is almost exclusively from the Adam Jones school, varying between what Jones may have written in his earlier years (chuggy material in “Delenda”) to the more proggy tinkerings of Lateralus (“Fraccions”). However, if these three lay the foundation for emulation, it is Ekelöf who truly copies the text. From his tendency to hop intervals to using meticulously written vocal cadences, Ekelöf really, really wants to be Maynard Keenan. It is the most distracting aspect of all, and depending on the listener, could fully derail a set of songs that would be quite nice with just a bit more effort and confidence.
However, this is not to say every second of Cognitive sounds exactly like Tool, or that the approach is unsuccessful, but the breaks from this formula bring at best middling results. On the low end of success is the insertion of Meshuggah/djent passages in the underdeveloped, disjointed “Oscillation.” Better is ballad “Last Light,” offering what could almost be a Souvenirs-era The Gathering sound, only with sensitive male vocals instead of Anneke van Giersbergen. Equally nice are the few moments when the band spreads their sound out a bit, particularly during “Slithering.” There’s also the occasional touch of Opethian melody or even bits of Katatonia and Anathema, but the majority of these “variations” could still just be moments from Tool songs, or at most A Perfect Circle. (The latter is particularly true during closer “Savia”; trade a Maynard for a Maynard…)
When all is said and done, Soen is a wildly talented group that gets in its own way by pretending to be someone else. It is one thing to imitate a movement or style, but ripping off one of the most instantly recognizable and hugely successful bands in the last 20 years is a very obvious and lamentable move. Someone who has never heard Tool would likely find this to be adventurous and classy hard rock, but the odds of finding that person among any of this site’s readers are approximately 3,720 to 1.
Then again, Tool doesn’t do a goddamn thing anymore, so maybe there’s a market for the imitators.
