With the current workflow, in order for modified easystack files to be picked up correctly, one needs to place them in a software.eessi.io subdirectory (see confirmation of this here: multixscale/dev.eessi.io-espresso#1 (comment); associated with EESSI/software-layer-scripts#8).
The necessary changes need to be made either in https://github.com/EESSI/software-layer-scripts/blob/main/EESSI-install-software.sh, or in the dev.eessi.io override variables.