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Soilwork: The living infinite

08/03/13 || Lord K Philipson

Is the world ready for a fucken double CD from Soilwork? That’s 20 goddamn songs, people! Let me get this out of the way: “The living infinite” is a huge chunk of meat to swallow. 20 tunes of modern metal and a running time of approximately 80 minutes, now that’s your money’s worth right there. You downloaded this illegally? I hope you fucken die from cancer, you asshole. You and everyone like you. Die.

With that out of the system, lemme start off by saying that I have never been a huge fan of Soilwork. I always appreciated what they did and it was always flawlessly performed and catchy, bla bla bla… But with “Stabbing the drama” (2005) they completely brought me in to their world, coz that’s a fucken monster of an album. Not to mention it holds one of my all-time fave productions courtesy of Daniel Bergstrand. “Stabbing the drama” is actually the only release by Soilwork that I truly enjoy to the fullest. I love that album. The ones after that (or before that) are just albums that I dig for the quality and musicianship, not necessarily becoz I think they are awesome. Oh, and another reason I enjoy listening to Soilwork is of course thanx to them having one of my absolute fave drummers in their ranks – Mr. Verbeuren, who I have had the privilege to work with on the latest The Project Hate MCMXCIX album “The Cadaverous Retaliation Agenda”. While I can hum songs off “Stabbing the drama” at any given time, “Sworn to a great divide” (2007) and “The panic broadcast” (2010) left me empty in that department. But now, with “The living infinite”, they have decided it’s time to hand me 20 new tunes to try to redeem that.

As you all know when it comes to Soilwork there’s really no need to discuss the obvious über-talent involved to greater extents. Let’s just say that vocalist Björn is a hell of a singer (one of the few who actually can handle both clean and screamy vocals) while the other guys aren’t exactly drunken slouches either. I think I heard that there’s this new dude doing guitars since that other guy who left Soilwork a few hundred times obviously left/was fired yet again. Safe to say, I guess he, the new fucko, rules all kinds of shit guitar wise. And that muthfaucken Dirk-guy, what is there left to say that’s not already been said about this man’s drumming capabilities? Yeah, let’s stop already before the bromance turns to scary and very non-hetero levels and concentrate on the material at hand for a bit.

There are no weak tunes on “The living infinite”. Some are more interesting than others, naturally, but nothing on here is weak. Fave songs? Opener “Spectrum of eternity”, after its short and sweet intro, blasts shit to pieces before turning into a more regular Soilwork effort with all the great ingredients they’re known for. Definitely one of the best cuts on this album and a great choice for opening track. “Rise above the sentiment”, with its beautiful chorus and catchy lead riff, is a killer as well. “Let the first wave rise” is pummeling shit back and forth and sails nicely on the seas of quality. “Loyal shadows” is a 2 and a half minute instrumental that gives the guitars some well-deserved attention and I really take a liking in this display of musical talent. “The living infinite I” is a nice and catchy-as-fuck mid paced piece. “This momentary bliss” opens up with some real neat and melodic guitar hooks before transforming into the Soilwork sound you all know and respect. I could go on like this for an hour or two, but I think you get my point. I’ll say it again: nothing on here is weak. I’m not positive “The living infinite” needed to be a double disc though, it could have made it all fine by chopping it in half. That’s not an attack on their choice of doing this overload of an album, don’t take me wrong.

After the first few listens it’s still clear that “Stabbing the drama” will remain my fave Soilwork album. But this double effort is easily grabbing me more than the two previous ones combined. Oh, and the production duties on “The living infinite” is taken care of by Jens Bogren, a guy you should know by now. This means the sound is excellent on all accounts.

One last thing… what strikes me as kinda weird with Soilwork is the fact that these axemen don’t get more recognition coz they sure know how to stroke those frets. There are some insanely excellent solos and plenty of killer riffage on here. If you’re a fan since way back – you’ll love this. If you want Soilwork at its best – get “Stabbing the drama”. That is, of course, just my humble opinion.

But my opinion is law.

Information
Released: 2013
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.soilwork.org
Band
Björn Strid: vocals
David Andersson: guitars
Sylvain Coudret: guitars
Ola Flink: bass
Sven Karlsson: keyboards
Dirk Verbeuren: drums

Tracklist
01. Spectrum Of Eternity
02. Memories Confined
03. This Momentary Bliss
04. Tongue
05. The Living Infinite I
06. Let The First Wave Rise
07. Vesta
08. Realm Of The Wasted
09. The Windswept Mercy
10. Whispers and Lights
11. Entering Aeons
13. Drowning With Silence
14. Antidotes In Passing
15. Leech
16. The Living Infinite II
17. Loyal Shadow
18. Rise Above The Sentiment
19. Parasite Blues
20. Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard

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