SOILWORK Releases New Single 'Night Whispers & Shining Lights'

Swedish melodic death metal heroes SOILWORK have released a brand-new single, "Night Whispers & Shining Lights", capping off a monumental year celebrating the band's 30th anniversary.

The track drops in the midst of the band's massive, ongoing European tour alongside AMON AMARTH and ORBIT CULTURE.

Delivering SOILWORK's signature fusion of razor-sharp riffs, soaring melodies, and epic choruses, "Night Whispers & Shining Lights" proves that the Swedish icons continue to bring relentless, genre-defining energy three decades into their storied career.

SOILWORK frontman Björn "Speed" Strid comments: "'Night Whispers & Shining Lights' is a hidden gem that's been brewing in the vaults for a couple of years but celebrates our 30th anniversary and the embarkation of our tour with AMON AMARTH and ORBIT CULTURE in a grand way. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do! See you on stage soon."

Originally forming in late 1995 under the moniker INFERIOR BREED, the band rebranded as SOILWORK in 1996. Hailing from Helsingborg, they quickly carved out their own unique path in the landscape of Swedish metal, famously fusing the foundational elements of the Swedish melodic death metal sound with their own power-groove riffs and soaring hooks.

To mark this major 30-year milestone, Strid and the rest of the band have been hosting a year-long retrospective throughout 2026. Every month, the group has dug deep into their extensive catalog, spotlighting two albums at a time to share never-before-seen studio footage, rare media, and intimate behind-the-scenes stories with fans worldwide.

"Night Whispers & Shining Lights" serves as both a celebration of this rich history and a fierce look toward the future.

In a February 2026 interview with Metal Anthology, Strid spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for SOILWORK's follow-up to "Övergivenheten" album, which came out in 2022. Regarding how the writing process has changed since the passing of SOILWORK guitarist David Andersson in September 2022, Strid said: "Yeah, [David] was very much of a driving force. So I think it's a bit more of a group effort now, like a collective thing. And it feels like we're entering a bit of a new era. And I think next album will be slightly different from 'Övergivenheten', but it will have some of those elements — the atmosphere, but maybe more mixed with the sort of old, heavier stuff from the 2000s. But, yeah, it's very much of a group effort and, obviously, [longtime touring guitarist] Simon [Johansson] joining the fold as well has brought some fresh blood, both on a personal level and songwriting-wise and everything. So we're looking forward to create this new album together."

Simon added: "Yeah, it's interesting. We're learning to write together in a way, because we haven't really done it. And [bassist] Rasmus [Ehrnborn] is also new, kind of, so it's kind of like a new constellation having to create music. But it's working well. I mean, [SOILWORK's latest single], 'Spirit [Of No Return]' [which came out in October 2024] turned out well. And we have a lot of really promising songs for the new album. We have a lot written already — more than one album."

On the topic of whether the new SOILWORK material will be" a little bit a throwback to the faster" nature of some of the band's earlier efforts, Björn clarified: "No. More like heavier — the heaviness, I would say, that we had on maybe [2001's] 'A Predator's Portrait' and [2002's] 'Natural Born Chaos', maybe a little bit of [2005's] 'Stabbing [The Drama]' too, but I kind of wanted to bring back the heaviness a bit and sort of mix it up with a more recent atmosphere, the epicness. So, that's sort of what I'm picturing, personally. I don't know if [the other] guys picture the same thing, but we have been discussing it a little bit, so it seems like we're on the same page."

Simon chimed in: "And then you never know what happens during an album process. It could take some turn or whatever, but that's also the beauty of it. Because, for me, many times it's been, like, the least favorite song, [when you] start recording an album, it's, like, 'Oh, that one isn't that good.' And then you start to add things and all of a sudden that is the best song. It's super interesting. It's so fun to be in that process."

As for which producer SOILWORK will work with this time around, Björn said: "We've had some producers, but this one we're gonna gonna be pretty much self-produced. We'll record at Simon's studio. So all of us are kind of [involved]; it's like a group effort."

Simon explained: "We also have this engineer, mixing guy that is working with us and has been working with us for a couple of albums. He also has ideas. He contributes whatever good things he can come up with. So we kind do it together, that part, I think."

In November 2024, Björn was asked by Germany's Moshpit Passion if "Spirit Of No Return" was indicative of the musical direction of SOILWORK's next studio album. Strid said: "Well, hard to say. I mean, we decided to just approach things quite slowly this time around because we've been through a lot, as I'm sure you know. Simon joined the fold now and he's a great guy and a fantastic guitar player. He's been playing with us live for a pretty long time, but he contributed with this new song and it has a little bit of a thrashier side to it and kind of like more SOILWORK rootsy kind of feel, but also still blended with the more current elements that we're known for. So it's really hard to say exactly where we're gonna go, but I would say that the sound is gonna be slightly more metallic, whatever that means, but I also feel that we discovered so many amazing things through when we did [the 2020 EP] 'A Whisp Of The Atlantic', with 'Verkligheten' [2019] and with 'Övergivenheten' [2022], and those elements we wanna take with us. But I think there's also maybe old things that we want to revisit and bring back again. And I think this new one, it has more sort of like a metallic vibe over it, but we keep on evolving, and I never wanna fall into some kind of cliché or trying to rehash things. So I'm as curious as you are where we're gonna go. But I think this song is maybe giving you a little bit of a hint where we're going. But we always try to experiment as well."

"Spirit Of No Return" showcased SOILWORK's signature blend of frenzied intensity, soaring melodies, epic arrangements, and a touch of progressive complexity — traits that have cemented their reputation over the last decades. Johansson's contribution to the songwriting channels the band's essence while bringing fresh energy to their unmistakable sound.

SOILWORK is:

Björn "Speed" Strid - vocals
Simon Johansson - guitars
Sven Karlsson - keyboards
Sylvain Coudret - guitars
Bastian Thusgaard - drums
Rasmus Ehrnborn - bass