Having moved on considerably from their earliest days as a Tool-infused Opeth alternative, album number seven in Swedish prog unit Soen's discography sees the band making a considerable strike for the mainstream. It will definitely not impress fans of their earliest material, although if you've stuck with the band this far it will be anything but a surprise as Soen seem determined to hone their material to the point of a sharp knife in order to make themselves as successful as possible. Perhaps that's where the name Reliance comes from; the band at this point in their career are more interested in being reliable rock radio stalwarts than outré prog freaks. This means, of course, that this seventh album will not be as appealing to fans of their earliest work and indeed if you came to this band through albums like Lotus then you'll be disappointed again by what Soen serve here.

That's not to say that there's absolutely nothing worthwhile here, of course. Strident opener Primal has an infectious groovy stomp to it as well as plenty of vocal hooks courtesy of Joel Ekelöf, yet it's more Disturbed than Tool in effect, something that comes across repeatedly and strongly across the album. It's a shame; the likes of Mercenary and Draconian have strong prog-inflected instrumentation yet enough vocal Draiman-isms that it can't help but unbalance the tracks - and this is all from a Disturbed fan! Far better is Discordia, still with groove metal heaviness for choruses yet generally taking a much lighter and proggier approach to the verses that is far more pleasant to listen to.

If you are open to the delights of Disturbed, of course, then this and the likes of Axis will come over particularly well, like a prog-infused modern metal that manages to be both catchy and thoughtfully constructed. It should go without saying that the band are instrumentally more than skilled at this point, particularly drummer Martin Lopez, and guitarists Cody Lee Ford and Lars Åhlund more notably when they get to provide guitar solos. Yet generally the song structures dominate, pulling a talented band towards mainstream and even pop terrain especially in moments such as the chorus on Huntress. This comes to its peak on Indifferent, which is a piano-backed balled that is practically undistinguishable from some indie rubbish you could hear on the radio...

Elsewhere, songs like Unbound come across as constructed in such a way as to appeal to as many as possible, with cheesier choruses than many a power metal band. And the deeper you get into the tracklisting, the less memorable songs become, the likes of Drifter and Draconian equally capable of showing up on the past two or three albums, faint echoes of Tool and Opeth showing up in the instrumentation just to be overwhelmed by the mainstream rock focus. There's almost a recovery by the time you reach finale Vellichor, which lingers a little with more breathy vocal atmospherics in a way that positions the band closer to lighter prog fare such as Riverside than more muscular rock and has an undoubtedly lovely if brief solo... yet it comes over as an aberration rather than the main focus of the album. Anyone paying attention to the band's career will not be surprised by this, of course, which is why this avoids truly low scores and Crap of the Month-esque embarrassment! And taking the material for what it is, there's nothing here actually bad or embarrassing, for sure - yet those who still hold out hope for a little more from Soen will be disappointed again (detract a good 10-20 points from the score given!) and few will find this superior to all the mainstream alternatives available at this point.