Published on February 13th, 2021 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0SOEN’s Cody Lee Ford On The Band’s New “Imperial” Album, Canada, Rock Influences & More
SOEN was founded by Joel Ekelöf (vocals) and Martin Lopez (drums), with its lineup eventually rounded out by Lars Enok Åhlund (keyboards and guitar), Oleksii “Zlatoyar” Kobel (bass) and Cody Lee Ford (lead guitar). Imperial, as released on January 29, 2021 via Silver Lining Music, is the latest full-length from the band — which includes former members of Amon Amarth, Opeth and Willowtree — as produced by Iñaki Marconi and the quintet. The album was mastered by Kane Churko, who has worked with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Bob Dylan, which helps give songs like “Illusion,” “Modesty” and album-closer “Fortune” plenty of depth and heaviness.
Fans eager to catch SOEN performing their new material will have to wait till Fall 2021 for the band to be able to get on the road again. The group’s Imperial European Tour 2021 will kick-off in November 2021 in Odense, Denmark, with new dates in Denmark, Portugal, Spain and Poland since added. However, the band has released several music videos of songs from Imperial in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; 2 of those music videos are embedded below for your viewing pleasure.
On Feburary 7, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with SOEN guitarist Cody Lee Ford via Zoom, as embedded below. While the majority of our conversation is about his rock influences and how he manages to be Canada-based while a member of a Sweden-based band, we did briefly discuss the making of Imperial. More on Ford and SOEN can be found here, here, here and here.