(In this post we present DGR’s take on the new double-album by Sweden’s Soilwork.)

When it was initially announced that Soilwork would be releasing a double album I think that a pretty good chunk of us metal blogging morons did a collective half groan at the prospect of that much Soilwork music hitting at the same time. With their last two albums – Sworn To A Great Divide and The Panic Broadcast – it seemed that the band had become the very paragon of consistency. You could put on either disc and catch a few pretty good songs, but most either felt as if they had been written entirely for the choral hook part or came off as interchangeable.

Not that this was some sort of awful atrocity, but you can see how there would be a sense of burnout in some quarters whenever the group’s name was brought up – especially since you can’t fault the band’s work ethic when it seems like a new Soilwork disc hits every two years like clockwork, no matter what changes happen within the band.

Imagine then our reaction when Soilwork released “Spectrum Of Eternity” as the lead-off song from The Living Infinite. It was exciting. Not only did the band sound rejuvenated, but there was some seriously heavy music going on there – something that previously had just been reserved to a small batch of songs like “Blind Eye Halo”. It was weird and refreshing as hell to do something that we hadn’t done in an incredibly long time, which was to move a Soilwork release high up on the most anticipated albums list.

Now that the album has come out I can comprehensively report that what the band teased at with “Spectrum Of Eternity” is in full effect here. On The Living Infinite Soilwork sound like a band full of life and with something to prove, combining all of their best elements as they’ve changed throughout the years into one great cohesive package. Continue reading »