The Living Infinite

The Living Infinite
Artwork by Mircea Gabriel Eftemie
Studio album by Soilwork
Released March 1, 2013 (2013-03-01)
Genre Melodic death metal, alternative metal, progressive metal
Length 84:19
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Jens Bogren, Soilwork
Soilwork chronology
The Panic Broadcast
(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 March 5, 2013 in the US. It is the band's first double album. It is also the first Soilwork release to feature new 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%[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]

Public reception

The Living Infinite was quite well received by the public. On Rate Your Music the album has an average rating of 3.56 of 5, based on more than 700 ratings,[11] and on Sputnikmusic the album has an "excellent" average rating of 4.1 of 5, based on more than 750 ratings.[12]

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debued at No. 60 on the Billboard 200,[13] and No. 20 on the Top Rock Albums,[14] selling 7,800 copies in its first week.[15] The album has sold 26,000 copies in the US as of August 2015.[16]

Track listing

All music arranged by Soilwork.

Disc 1
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Spectrum of Eternity"  StridStrid, Andersson 4:01
2. "Memories Confined"  StridKarlsson 3:25
3. "This Momentary Bliss"  StridStrid, Andersson 3:45
4. "Tongue"  StridAndersson 4:17
5. "The Living Infinite I"  StridStrid 3:50
6. "Let the First Wave Rise"  AnderssonAndersson 2:52
7. "Vesta"  StridStrid 4:18
8. "Realm of the Wasted"  StridCoudret 4:29
9. "The Windswept Mercy"  StridStrid 4:14
10. "Whispers and Lights"  StridAndersson 5:09
Total length:
40:20
Disc 2
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Entering Aeons" (instrumental) Andersson 2:34
2. "Long Live the Misanthrope"  StridAndersson 5:26
3. "Drowning With Silence"  StridAndersson 4:28
4. "Antidotes in Passing"  StridAndersson 4:15
5. "Leech"  StridCoudret 4:20
6. "The Living Infinite II"  StridStrid 5:39
7. "Loyal Shadow" (instrumental) Coudret 2:34
8. "Rise Above the Sentiment"  StridStrid 4:03
9. "Parasite Blues"  StridStrid, Andersson 5:16
10. "Owls Predict, Oracles Stand Guard"  FlinkKarlsson 5:24
Total length:
43:59

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[17]

Personnel

Soilwork
Guest musicians
Additional musicians
Production
Artwork and design

Studios

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 115
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 97
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[21] 10
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 128
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 17
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[24] 61
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 36
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 188
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[28] 30
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[29] 9
US Billboard 200[30] 60
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[31] 11
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[32] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 20

References

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

External links

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