The Living Infinite
Artwork by Mircea Gabriel Eftemie
Studio album by
Soilwork
Released1 March 2013 (2013-03-01)
GenreMelodic death metal
Length84:19
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerJens Bogren, Soilwork
Soilwork chronology
The Sledgehammer Files: The Best of Soilwork 1998-2008
(2010)		 The Living Infinite
(2013)		 Beyond the Infinite
(2014)

The Living Infinite is the ninth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork, released on 27 February 2013 in Asia, 1 March 2013 in Europe, on 4 March 2013 in the UK and on 5 March 2013 in the US. It is the band's first double album. It is also the first Soilwork release to feature guitarist David Andersson; founding guitarist Peter Wichers left Soilwork for the second time in 2012, making this the second album to not feature him. This also marks the band's last album with longtime bassist Ola Flink who parted ways with the band right before the recording of the next album The Ride Majestic.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Allmusic[3]
Blabbermouth9.5/10[4]
Decibel Magazine[5]
Exclaim!9/10[6]
Metal Forces9/10[7]
Metal Hammerfavorable[8]
Metal Stormfavorable[9]
Sputnikmusic4.3/5[10]

The album received high acclaim. Trey Spencer of Sputnikmusic gave the album a "Superb" rating of 4.3/5, praising the album's heavier sound, dynamic songwriting and melodic, progressive content. Calling it Soilwork's "strongest, most consistent album to date", he stated that the band "have simultaneously stepped back to their past while maintaining their current sound, but they have also diversified their formula more than ever before – and they did so without a single filler track."[10] However, writing for Decibel Magazine, Adrien Begrand stated that "the primary flaw of The Living Infinite is its lack of variety, the cookie-cutter nature of the songwriting wearing thin after the halfway point".[5]

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at No. 60 on the Billboard 200,[11] and No. 20 on the Top Rock Albums,[12] selling 7,800 copies in its first week.[13] The album has sold 26,000 copies in the US as of August 2015.[14]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Björn Strid, except where noted

Disc 1
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Spectrum of Eternity" 
  • Strid
  • David Andersson
4:01
2."Memories Confined" Sven Karlsson3:25
3."This Momentary Bliss" 
  • Strid
  • Andersson
3:45
4."Tongue" Andersson4:17
5."The Living Infinite I" Strid3:50
6."Let the First Wave Rise"AnderssonAndersson2:52
7."Vesta" Strid4:18
8."Realm of the Wasted" Sylvain Coudret4:29
9."The Windswept Mercy" Strid4:14
10."Whispers and Lights" Andersson5:09
Total length:40:20
Disc 2
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Entering Aeons" (instrumental) Andersson2:34
2."Long Live the Misanthrope" Andersson5:26
3."Drowning with Silence" Andersson4:28
4."Antidotes in Passing" Andersson4:15
5."Leech" Coudret4:20
6."The Living Infinite II" Strid5:39
7."Loyal Shadow" (instrumental) Coudret2:34
8."Rise Above the Sentiment" Strid4:03
9."Parasite Blues" 
  • Strid
  • Andersson
5:16
10."Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard"Ola FlinkKarlsson5:24
Total length:43:59

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[15]

Personnel

Soilwork
  • Björn Strid – vocals
  • Sylvain Coudret – guitars
  • David Andersson – guitars
  • Ola Flink – bass
  • Sven Karlsson – keyboards
  • Dirk Verbeuren – drums
Guest musicians
Additional musicians
  • Hanna Carlsson – cello on "Spectrum of Eternity", "The Living Infinite II"; piano on "Spectrum of Eternity"
Production
  • Soilwork – production
  • Jens Bogren – production, mixing, mastering
  • Johan Örnborg – production assistance
  • Linus Corneliusson – production assistance
Artwork and design

Studios

  • Fascination Street – mixing, mastering

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] 115
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[18] 97
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] 10
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 128
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 17
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 61
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 36
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 188
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26] 30
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[27] 9
US Billboard 200[28] 60
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[29] 11
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[30] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 20

References

  1. ↑ The Living Infinite at Metacritic
  2. ↑ Bowar, Chad. "Soilwork - The Living Infinite Review". heavymetal.about.com. About.com. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Heaney, Gregory. The Living Infinite - Soilwork at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Van Horn, Jr., Ray (10 March 2013). "CD Reviews - The Living Infinite Soilwork". www.blabbermouth.net. Blabbermouth. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 Begrand, Adrian (April 2013). "Soilwork, The Living Infinite". Decibel Magazine (102): 84.
  6. ↑ Deneau, Max (5 March 2013). "Soilwork The Living Infinite". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Fisher, Mark. "SOILWORK – The Living Infinite (2013)". www.metalforcesmagazine.com. Metal Forces. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Dome, Malcolm (27 March 2013). "Soilwork: The Living Infinite". metalhammer.teamrock.com. Team Rock Limited. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Train, Dane (12 March 2013). "Soilwork - The Living Infinite review". www.metalstorm.net. Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  10. 1 2 Spencer, Trey (3 March 2013). "Review: Soilwork - The Living Infinite". www.sputnikmusic.com. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Billboard 200: March 23, 2013". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Rock Albums: March 23, 2013". Billboard.
  13. ↑ "SOILWORK: 'The Living Infinite' First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 13 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015.
  15. ↑ The Living Infinite (liner notes). Soilwork. Nuclear Blast. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Soilwork – The Living Infinite" (in German). Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soilwork – The Living Infinite" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Soilwork – The Living Infinite" (in French). Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "Soilwork: The Living Infinite" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  20. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Soilwork – The Living Infinite". Hung Medien.
  21. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  22. ↑ "リヴィング・インフィニット – ソイルワーク – ORICON STYLE".
  23. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Soilwork – The Living Infinite". Hung Medien.
  24. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Soilwork – The Living Infinite". Hung Medien.
  25. ↑ "Chart Log UK – Weekly Updates Sales 2013".
  26. ↑ March 2013/131/ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company.
  27. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  28. ↑ "Soilwork Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  29. ↑ "Soilwork Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  30. ↑ "Soilwork Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  31. ↑ "Soilwork Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
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