It was actually quite the opposite when I was younger. I didn't start thinking about large-scale traveling or solo traveling until my mid 20's or so. But I think the feeling of not fitting in or an ordinary lifestyle not being for me always was present – I just didn't know how to deal with it.
The experiences absolutely shape my creative side. Without the encounters, variation and struggle I'd have less to pull from. My post-pandemic traveling has been a rollercoaster that's given me huge highs, but also huge lows. Living in Sweden in my late 30's would've just been an isolated vacuum without much to pull from. Maybe I'd write about autumn leaves instead of the apocalypse? I don't know.
I think ideas automatically come whatever I do. Music and writing really is a compulsion rather than something I actively try to do. I've toyed with the idea of stopping many times, but I still find myself saving guitar melodies and lyric one liners on my phone.
“Upheaval”, at least to me, is definitely heavier than your last couple albums. Was it a conscious effort to offer a more intense album or did it happen very naturally? Was there anything in particular that made you take a heavier route this time?
Not really. I've told people over two-three albums that I wish to explore the lighter side of Soliloquium, but that comes with multiple issues: I don't think my voice or musical inventiveness really cuts it, and I'm not sure anyone wants to hear it. I've tried with songs like "Diaspora", "The Healing Process" and "Nocturne", but it doesn't feel like they got there, for me or the listeners. I think "Upheaval" does a better job of mixing the extreme and atmospheric parts in the same compositions though.
It's simply a case of what comes out comes out. My music taste is in a visceral phase, and I've also been increasingly emotionally raw and unhinged over the last couple of years. This is also evident in my music taste, where I'd like things to cut to the bone. I think that contributed to the album having more angst and fire, rather than the defeated sorrow that's prevalent in atmospheric metal. Something inside me just wanted to scream and be heard, I guess.
PS: there might be a couple of non-metal bonus tracks from the sessions, too, but more about that later!
“Upheaval” is the six-full length album for Soliloquium. Have you found it easier or more time consuming compared to years past to write and record an album? Or does it just depend on the circumstances that surround the processes at the time? What inspires you to keep going, to keep putting out music beyond the obvious fact that you are good at it?
I think I'm always getting better at the process of recording, writing and performing itself. There are three main challenges really: my traveling, higher musical ambitions, and the financial aspects.
Right now I'm jamming melodies on an acoustic guitar in Spain that nearly cuts my fingers off, for instance. It's hard to know if those riffs and melodies are of any use once I record it properly with an electric guitar. This is nothing new though; I wrote a lot of "Soulsearching" material on a clean electric guitar without an amp while living in Portugal. But all this is certainly easier when I have my Stockholm home studio.
Higher ambitions means that things take more time to finish. Back in the day, I put near demo status compositions and performances on the albums. Now, I reiterate, question and re-record things. To make an even better album, I need to work even more on the overall compositions, especially melodicism and clean vocals. It'll make it even more time-consuming and meticulous.
Financially, I'm heading towards a pretty bleak hole. Operating at a loss to get professional drumming and Jari Lindholm production is essential to maintain the quality people have come to expect over the last three albums. I'd like to keep doing it this way, but there's only so much good money I can throw after bad money, even if I love to record.
There's just a compulsion in me to create and express myself I guess. Making something out of nothing is one of the few things I find real magic in in an era where everything seems so superficial and beyond salvation. Musically, I'm not entirely sure how much I have to go, but I definitely have a lot to say. I also think that's where the big evolution happened on "Upheaval". I've never written a song as deeply personal and potentially contentious as "Family Ties", for instance.
The title makes me think of a great change, and that could be a good or bad change. Is there a particular theme to this album or maybe a theme that’s revisited across several songs? Is there anything on a personal level that influenced the album?
Yeah, it's a good observation. I had my little post-pandemic dance when I experienced great freedom and flow state for a year or two. These years didn't make it into the music, aside from a line or two about indulgence and self-exploration in "Tightrope" and "Upheaval".
After that it's becoming increasingly clear that I need a whole new life phase to not become bitter and indifferent. That pit is wide open and I struggle every day to not fall into it. It's a careful balance: too cold and the indifference will consume me, too vulnerable and I open myself up way too much to all the world's harm. A lot of "Upheaval" deals with that; the combination of having the intention to do something that actually matters with my life, when the world has never been so devoid of opportunity and humanity in my lifetime. There's a lot of frustration and confusion, and I suppose that's where the angrier musical language comes from, too.
I think the whole album deals with outsiderhood in various ways. I'm a heart on sleeve, stubborn humanist that just questions everything, and a lot of that has left me in a strange place. The world is becoming a colder and colder place. It's hard to not feel bitter for me when everything just turns into race, tribalism, vanity, hustle culture, "masculinity" flexing, or whatever is in at the moment. I'm turning into a weirder and weirder little island in this landscape.
What I specifically end up talking about in the "Upheaval" song are my waning career opportunities. My life over the last ten years or so has been concentrated on getting my few material crumbs and living simple. This is getting harder and harder in the 2026 climate, with the complete devaluation of creative work and the cost of living crisis. Spiritually and financially, I'm getting increasingly outcast. As I say, my personal "eye of the needle" is fading. Maybe I didn't deserve them, but the crumbs were mine.
What’s your favorite song on “Upheaval?” Which one was the easiest to write? Hardest?
Probably "Livsöden". It feels like it has the strongest emotional impact, with the strong existential angle. The vivid imagery makes me feel something every time. "Tightrope", "Contrarians" and "Time Stands Still" came together pretty easily musically. The hardest challenge was getting the clean vocals together. I really put in a stronger effort in that area on "Upheaval", recording and reworking the melodies in the demo stage many times. I wanted to move away from the boring vocal melodies and provide some real melodic content and variation, and I hope it shows. But it was definitely the hardest part of writing and recording the album.
Both your extreme and clean vocals continue to get better release after release. I believe in the past you had taken some sort of vocal lessons or coaching…are you still doing this? Beyond that, is there anything in particular you do to help maintain your vocals?
Thank you! I had some professional vocal lessons back in 2024, but that was only for clean singing. It helped me a lot, since I learned a lot about my issues as a vocalist, and what I could do to deal with them effectively. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to do it continuously, and I was also off on a trip after the ten lessons were over.
Generally, I'm lazy when it comes to active vocal evolution. I wish I was better, but just like my guitar playing, I just enjoy playing and writing tunes. I don't have it in me to study and do exercises. But I sing nearly every day in some capacity, even if it's just some random Infant Annihilator snarls in my living room or whatever. The most unlikely component is probably karaoke, which helped me get comfortable with singing clean vocals in front of an audience, and loud ones at that.
“Upheaval,” like all your albums, is dynamic and sounds different than the release before. With that being said, all your albums sound like Soliloquium. If you ever became tired or disinterested in your core sound, would you totally change the band’s style or would you start another project altogether? Has there been any instances where you wrote or recorded something and realized it just wouldn’t work for Soliloquium?
This is definitely something I've been thinking about. If I made a singer/songwriter, folk type album that still had the same mood, I think I wouldn't mind releasing that under Soliloquium. I think there'd be some backlash, but I mean, I've released songs like "A Fleeting Moment" and "22" already. Most people know it's a component in my music. It's my musical ability that's been stopping that evolution, not my intentions. I think what would help me make the decision would be the mood, rather than the music style.
With that said, I'm not sure how many more riffs and melodies I have in me. My interest in my death metal band Desolator got halted for that exact reason. I simply ran out of creative death metal material (not good when you're the main writer, oops). But there are definitely some riffs lying around that are kind of in between Soliloquium and Desolator. Too brutal for Soliloquium and too gentle for Desolator.
I think my next step is simply contributing vocals and lyrics. My guitar abilities won't get any better, and I'm not sure I have so many more ways to write either. Partnering with a creative metal band with the right visceral edge, or having the balls to go full non-metal clean vocals would probably be the interesting avenues for me. We'll see!
Want to know more about Soliloquium and check out their music? You can order the album here on Meuse Music Records or on the band's Bandcamp page here
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