"It's a Growl Thing"

Soilwork - The Living Infinite (Album review, part 1 - first 10 tracks)

Soilwork is one of the biggest metal bands from Sweden. They were formed in 1995 by Björn “Speed” Strid (Vocals) and Peter Wichers (Guitar). Peter Wichers however, decided to leave the band in the summer of 2012 and the current Soilwork lineup consists of (Besides Strid) - Ola Flink (Bass), Sven Karlsson (Keyboards), Dirk Verbeuren (Drums), Sylvain Coudret (Guitar) and David Andersson (Guitar). Their sound can be described as melodic death metal with elements from blues rock and alternative metal. Soilwork’s sound has always been evolving and no album sounds like the last one. Their new album The Living Infinite will be released on the 27th of February in Asia, 1st of March in Europe and finally it’ll be released on the 5th of March in North America. The album is now released in Europe and Asia, so I thought I’d do a album review!

So here we go! Let’s start this review!

1. Spectrum of Eternity: With a intro that sounds like it’s straight from The Lord of the Rings the song instantly caught my attention. After the intro the song kicks off with a heavy and fast start accompanied by Björn “Speed” Strid’s vocals. This song contains some great guitar pieces and it doesn’t take its foot off the break, it’s full speed from the start to the end. Björn “Speed” Strid also uses some cleans on this song, which is great to hear.
2. Memories Confined: This song is a bit slower than the last one,but pretty much follows in the same path, great guitars with a heavy feel. The vocals are also slower but at the same time they feel heavier in a way. The song also contains a pretty catchy chorus “Fear is no savior… and there is no God.”
3. This Momentary Bliss: My favorite track of the album, hands down. The intro is absolutely epic and really sets the tone for this track. The lyrics are really good and the chorus is powerful and is one of the highlights on this track. Björn “Speed” Strid sings the chorus cleanly which makes it simple, but yet so powerful. I’m not even going to talk about the instrumentals on this song, it’s simply epic. This Momentary Bliss is really melodical and creative, I love it.
4. Tongue: As This Momentary Bliss fades out it kind of blends in to the track Tongue, they’re kind of linked together. This is another fast-paced song with fast vocals and a very “mainstream” chorus that really has its charm. Towards the end of the song a instrumental piece kicks in which is pretty sweet. Good song, catchy and easy to like.
5. The Living Infinite I: The intro starts out with some acoustical guitars but changes style after awhile, adding drums, guitars and a synth to the sound. This song really doesn’t stand out for me though (Not saying it’s bad). It follows in the footsteps of the earlier songs with its melodical rhythm and Björn “Speed” Strid’s screams and clean songs. Even though it doesn’t stand out, it’s definitely a good track! The use of the synth can be clearly heard which gives the song a nice touch
6. Let The First Wave Rise: Heavy. The song starts out with the words “First the silence, then the chaos!” and it is pretty much that, chaos. Björn “Speed” Strid uses his harsh and aggressive screams well together with his cleans during key parts of the song. A nice vocal mix. The guitars are pretty sweet and fit well together with the chaotic drumming.
7. Vesta: Yet another song that has a great vocal work. This song however blends in some acoustical guitar parts here and there. The intro sounds like it’s influenced by the western (genre) and the acoustical guitar in the intro is featured later in the song as well. Overall it’s a pretty good song, doesn’t stick out for me though.
8. Realm of the Wasted: Another fast-paced, hard-hitting song. I kind of like how the chorus slows downs while the instrumental parts keep up the fast-pace in the song.
9. The Windswept Voice: This one differs from the rest of the songs on this album. Björn “Speed” Strid switches out the screaming for soft cleans (Except for a few minor parts). It’s a bit slower than the previous songs on the album, but it provides a nice “break” from the hard-hitting and fast songs. Loving the vocals and melody on this one. Great track.
10. Whispers and Lights: This song also contains mostly clean vocals and is a worthy last track of the first album. Great lyrics accompanied by great vocals. The song has a few parts where it becomes heavier and contains some screams but overall, one of the softer tracks on the album. Kind of reminds me of Opeth and their album Blackwater Park in a few ways. Pretty nice!

That’s it! The first part of the double-album. Overall a damn good album with many great tracks. I think this is one of the best Soilwork albums so far! I’ve not yet had the chance to listen to the second part of the album but I’ll check it out tomorrow and start working on the review.

Everyone should check this album out, sounds greats so far. The vocals, guitars, bass, synths and the drumming are flat out great.

Top 3 tracks -

1. This Momentary Bliss
2. Spectrum of Eternity
3. The Windswept Voice

The album has been released in Asia and Europe. It’ll be released in North America on the 5th of March! Thanks for reading!

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