“Every Swedish metal band I’ve seen this year has been nothing short of phenomenal. Not sure if there’s something in the water over there or just every musician has such a deep knowledge of musical theory, that whatever they create comes out a masterpiece.”
SOEN and Dark Tranquility did not disappoint on their Scandinavian Heavy Arts Tour when they came through Toronto on April 23, 2026. Joined by Persefone, a progressive death metal band based in Andorra, the three bands slaughtered the stage at the Phoenix for three plus hours of insanely precise heavy music.
Persefone
From the moment Persefone kicked off their set with Sounds and Vessels from their EP Lingua Ignota: Part I, it was evident their set was going to be cinematic. Transitioning seamlessly into One Word, the next track from the 2024 release, the pit opened up and the head banging began.
SOEN
SOEN is a band that never disappoints live. Martin Lopez is such a strong backbone of the band. Some describe him as a beast behind the drum kit, but either way, he lives up to the expectation that prog bands are some of the most technically precise bands in metal. Vocalist Joel Ekelöf did what he does best: command the room and the fans in it by slowly walking across the stage to deliver powerful vocals that could be aggressive one line and delicately soft the next.
It’s this dichotomy that SOEN has in almost every song that keeps you on your toes. You don’t know if when a chorus ends you’re getting a guitar solo, a breakdown, or a stripped down bridge, but regardless of what comes next, it always works.
The guitar work of Lars Åhlund and fellow Canadian Cody Lee Ford gave fans a healthy dose of screaming lead lines and guitar solos. Playing songs like Primal, Mercenary, and Discordia off their latest release Reliance, SOEN is coming back with a strong album after their 2023 release Memorial. If you haven’t seen them on this tour and they’re stopping in your city, now’s the time to get tickets before they start selling out North American venues.
Dark Tranquility
As one of the pioneers of Gothenburg’s (and you could argue Sweden’s) death metal scene, Dark Tranquility has been a namesake in the genre for well over 30 years and is showing no signs of slowing down now.
Dark Tranquility opened their set with Punish My Heaven, a punishing track (no pun intended) from their 1995 album The Gallery. Covering songs from many of their acclaimed albums including Fiction, Atoma, and Moment, the last founding member Mikael Stanne stage presence and vocal range proved that Dark Tranquility is still at their best.
They closed the set with Misery’s Crown, a masterpiece that is still as relevant today as it was when it was released in 2007. “Don’t bring your misery down on me.”
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