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Soilwork > A Whisp of the Atlantic > Reviews > metalmaya
Soilwork - A Whisp of the Atlantic

An experimental epic - 80%

metalmaya, December 4th, 2020

Where do I start? I was listening to a playlist of new metal tracks on Spotify today, and just happened upon the sixteen-and-a-half-minute opener of this EP. Needless to say, I was intrigued. I have never been a massive fan of Soilwork, although Verkligheten is a pretty decent album from what I can remember. Both heavy and melodic, the title track is an epic more akin to something written by a power metal band. There's some interesting instrumentation, including a piano and what I assume is a saxophone during the last two minutes. It isn't anything I'd consider catchy, particularly due to its length, but it sure did take me by surprise, in a good way. With that being said, it's not actually my favourite from this EP.

The shorter, more conventional tracks are great too. The Nothingness and the Devil contains both catchy, distorted riffs and clean melodic sections reminiscent of the all-time classic Master of Puppets. Feverish starts with an 80s-style synth that opens into screamed vocals and more distorted riffs - and towards the end, a violin. It's clear to say that Soilwork's new EP veers into experimental territory, which will either be a blessing or a curse depending on the listener. I'm an outsider to this band's wider discography, so I can't judge A Whisp of the Atlantic alongside most of their other releases.

Desperado is in my opinion the weakest song from this EP. I'm not really a big fan of the vocals during the verses, to be honest. What's for sure is that if you like In Flames' more recent offerings, you'll probably like this track. It's not terrible, nor is it fantastic. It's bog-standard groove metal/melodeath, and pales in comparison to everything else here.

Soilwork have been releasing a lot of new music recently. Here's to hoping they'll put out more good stuff in the future and continue to explore new musical avenues (and for the love of God, please stop it with the generic melodeath. Everything else on this EP proves they can be an innovative band.)