7 albums in 9 years — that is a very, very serious number. After an unprecedentedly long break of more than two and a half years, SOILWORK delivered the modern metal release that all fans had been eagerly awaiting. During the hiatus, the band's frontman, vocalist Bjorn Strid, managed to record albums with TERROR 2006, DISARMONIA MUNDI, COLDSEED, and also participated in the NUCLEAR BLAST ALLSTARS project.
The musical direction of "Sworn to a Great Divide" was quite predictable. However, there is an extremely pleasant fact here — this album leans less toward the metalcore sound than its predecessors. Having started as a melodic death metal act, the band gradually shifted its sound from album to album. The 2003 and 2005 releases were very similar to each other — beautiful melodies, heavy riffs, quite good compositions — and yet, objectively speaking, they looked somewhat pale next to 2002's "Natural Born Chaos." Comparing them to the material of the first three albums would be somewhat unfair, as that was stylistically different music altogether. On the new album, however, we see noticeable progress compared to the previous two releases on one hand, and on the other, in certain passages the musicians return to their early work. It is very pleasing that keyboards have once again become one of the leading instruments. It should be noted separately that in terms of clean vocals, Bjorn Strid has taken yet another huge step forward — and one can confidently say that today, across all of metalcore and modern metal, he has no equal in combining extreme and clean vocals. When it comes to guitars and drums, this disc once again represents the peak of the band members' technical mastery. A somewhat greater role for guitar solos could have been beneficial, as they fit perfectly into SOILWORK's music, adding flavor.
The album's compositions stick in your memory practically from the first listen. It is now fashionable to accuse bands like this of having a commercial motivation behind their work, but that is not entirely fair. Yes, this music is relatively easy to absorb, but it has every right to exist and deserves its place in heavy music. Furthermore, let's be objective — bands whose sole purpose is to sell their musical product at the highest price won't push themselves to the technical extremes that SOILWORK achieved on this disc. The album features some of the strongest compositions in every respect — for example, the closing "20 More Miles." The absolute hit, however, is the album's shortest track — "The Pittsburgh Syndrome" — a simply killer composition with stunning energy.