Soilwork started out as a hard-hitting and fast melodic death metal band in the 90s and went on to a more modern sound in the early 2000s. Releasing a double album in 2013, they also embraced some progressive elements into their music, which complemented their change in sound quite nicely, even though The Living Infinite was a bit hit or miss for me personally.
Their new EP is called Beyond the Infinite, carries 5 new tracks and basically continues what The Living Infinite began, but has some nice twists to it.
Forever Lost in Vain is the opening track of the record and really sounds like it’s just a left over track from the producing of their double album. It’s a catchy, hook-driven track that almost reaches the 5 minute mark, but it doesn’t offer much beyond that. A nice touch in this song is the very Tool-sounding, short break in the middle of the song.
The first real surprise on this EP is the third song, which is titled Resisting the Current. What I really love about this song is the lightweight drumplay and lively guitarriffs that create a pulsing and vivid song together.
Next up and shortest track on the record is Those Absend Eyes, which starts out with a short piano intro you wouldn’t expect from Soilwork and goes over to a groovy riff section. I’m not sure how I feel about the moment when the vocals kick in with some weird effect layered over them though. Aside from that this song reminds me of some of their late 2000s material.
In the end, Beyond the Infinite is a really solid EP, that only partially makes the impression that we’re served some left over material from the recording sessions of The Living Infinite and mostly is a blend of the style of metal Soilwork presented on their double album, with some old elements and a bit of experimentation.