K-Pop Double-Take is an occasional column highlighting recent releases that have yet to receive the attention we feel they deserve.

Infinite, the popular seven-member South Korean boy band formed in 2010 by Woolim Entertainment, has always featured rock elements in their music.

But the band's newest single "Last Romeo," released back in May, takes that sound even further, into what could best be described as a gothic fantasy ballad with hints of heavy metal.

In many of Infinite's previous hit songs, from "Come Back Again" to "Be Mine" to "The Chaser", the electric guitar has always been a prominently featured instrument. But "Last Romeo" features the sort of electric guitar riffs that actually remind me a of classic 1980s heavy metal (which I am not ashamed to admit, I listened to a lot of, growing up).

While "Last Romeo" is certainly not a true "metal" song, there is something about it that sounds like some of the hard rock and metal being produced in that era, specifically the mid-to-late '80s.

I suspect that "Last Romeo's" producers, Sweetone, are fellow headbangers and know there is an audience for an edgier sound in modern K-pop that draws its influence from earlier eras.

From the dawn of hard rock in the late '60s, groups like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden were exploring new territory in those days by adding synthesizers, choral backing vocals (often also synthesized), strings and other effects to their songs. Those songs often also contained themes based on ancient history, medieval mythology, fantasy and folklore.

"Last Romeo" has many of these same elements--the anthemic quality of the singing, the heavy guitars with lots of effects, orchestral strings and the fantastic inspiration of classical literature.

The song begins with an extended intro that features swirling strings, military drum rolls, deep blasts from brass instruments and apocalyptic piano chords. The the thump of a heartbeat is heard just before the first verse.

All of the orchestral instrumentation here gives the song a truly gothic feel.

As "Last Romeo" moves into the main verses, a heavy metal guitar sound comes into the mix with compressed, overdriven power chords jumping out between the brass parts and intricate patterns created by guitar with a delay effect added.

The Infinite track also features drums that are heard very prominently in the overall mix. These are rock drums played live, and loud, not sequenced from a drum machine.

But the song still manages to be danceable somehow.

With Sweetune producers Han Jae-ho and Kim Seung-soo at the helm, it's no surprise that Infinite's sound continues to evolve in this heavy metal-infused direction. Sweetune are freelance producers that have become known for their fusion of retro and modern production styles as well as for combining electronic and rock instrumentation.

The duo got their start producing hits for the groups Kara, Rainbow and Nine Muses. Yet even working with these cutesy girl groups, there were obvious hints of rock and roll and a retro 1980s sound.

Many of Infinite's songs have often been more than a little on the dark side as well.

"BTD (Before the Dawn)", also produced by Sweetone, had a dark, gothic sound and theme that foreshadowed their latest single. Now "Last Romeo" takes the group even further into dark, moody territory. The video backs up the dark imagry with stark scenes with dusty bookshelves and old antiques, old clock towers half submerged in water and a cavernous room full of candelabras with white candles flickering in the wind.

The meloncholy of "Last Romeo" is also played up in lyrics such as, "flowers wither and scatter, the moon tilts and disappears, but my heart won't ever change, I love you, I love you."

Like the Shakespearean tragedy it is presumably named after, "Last Romeo" is about overcoming the impossible and fighting for love against all odds.

Whatever the outcome is for the song's protagonist, thanks to Sweetone, Infinite have once again brought a refreshing new sound to modern K-pop, by fusing modern production with something different from the pack.

Listen to "Last Romeo," the first single from the latest Infininte album "Second Season," RIGHT HERE

Carl Hamm is a DJ, radio host, film maker and self-described culture pusher. "Pop Yeh Yeh," Hamm's critically-heralded compilation of 1960s psychedelic rock from Singapore and Malaysia, was released in 2014.