Soilwork are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. Formed in 1995, the group originally consisted of vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid, guitarists Peter Wichers and Ludvig Svartz, bassist Carl-Gustav Döös, and drummer Jimmy Persson. The sole constant member is Strid, who is joined in the current lineup by keyboardist Sven Karlsson (since 2001), guitarist Sylvain Coudret (since 2008), drummer Bastian Thusgaard (since 2016), bassist Rasmus Ehrnborn (since 2022) and guitarist Simon Johansson (since 2023).
History
Soilwork formed in late 1995,[1] originally under the name Inferior Breed.[2] The band's initial lineup featured vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid, guitarists Peter Wichers and Ludvig Svartz, bassist Carl-Gustav Döös, and drummer Jimmy Persson,[3] although Döös left before the band had recorded.[4] After releasing their first demo In Dreams We Fall into the Eternal Lake, the band were joined by new bassist Ola Flink and their first keyboardist Carlos Holmberg for the recording of their debut album, Steelbath Suicide.[5] Svartz and Persson were subsequently replaced by Ola Frenning and Henry Ranta, respectively, for the recording of 1999's The Chainheart Machine and 2001's A Predator's Portrait.[6] Just before the recording of the band's fourth album Natural Born Chaos in late 2001, Holmberg was replaced by Sven Karlsson.[3]
In June 2003, shortly after the release of Figure Number Five, Ranta left Soilwork to "dedicate more time to his personal life".[7] He was replaced for the rest of the year by Richard Evensand,[8] who toured with the group until leaving in January 2004 to join Chimaira.[9] He was replaced the next month by Dirk Verbeuren, initially on a temporary basis, before he became a full-time member in December 2005.[10] The new lineup released Stabbing the Drama in early 2005, before Wichers left that December, claiming that he was "worn out from all the touring".[11] The guitarist was replaced for a string of European festival appearances in spring and summer 2006 by Daniel Antonsson,[12] and later for shows in the UK in September by Andreas Holma.[13] A third guitarist was trialled during shows in the US towards the end of the year,[13] before Antonsson took over permanently in time for the recording of Sworn to a Great Divide in early 2007.[14] Also in the summer, Peter Wildoer had been forced to substitute for Verbeuren for a few shows.[15]
In February 2008, the band announced they had parted ways with Frenning, claiming that he "resisted the demands of the road and found it difficult to come to terms with the amount of touring scheduled".[16] For shows following the lineup change, Frenning was temporarily replaced by David Andersson followed by Sylvain Coudret.[17][18] That September, the band announced the return of Peter Wichers, who took his place in the lineup back from Antonsson, with Coudret taking Frenning's place on a permanent basis at the same time.[19] The new lineup released The Panic Broadcast in 2010, before Wichers left for a second time in June 2012 due to "creative differences".[20] He was replaced by David Andersson, who had filled in for Wichers during a string of shows in the spring of 2011 (which eventually led to his departure).[21]
With new guitarist Andersson, Soilwork released The Living Infinite in 2013 and Beyond the Infinite in 2014, before announcing the departure of Flink after 18 years in June 2015.[22] He was replaced for the tour in promotion of The Ride Majestic by Markus Wilbom.[23] The following July, Verbeuren also left Soilwork to take over as Megadeth's drummer, with Bastian Thusgaard taking over in a touring capacity.[24] He became a permanent member in April 2017.[25] In January 2017, Taylor Nordberg took over from Wibom on bass,[26] who had left late the previous year to focus on "other commitments".[27] The band's 11th album Verkligheten followed in 2019, before Rasmus Ehrnborn joined as their first full-time bassist since 2015 in January 2022.[28] Ehrnborn debuted on Övergivenheten, which was released in August 2022.[29]
In September 2022, David Andersson died aged 47.[30] The following March, Soilwork announced their return with new guitarist Simon Johansson, who had filled in for Andersson at shows since 2019.[31]
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