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| CDcame out the 07 September 2009 - Candlelight Records |
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1. Equivalence 3.18
2. Down with the Sun 4.23
3. Where the Last Wave Broke 5.03
4. The Harrowing Years 6.39
5. Against the Stream 6.11
6. Lay of the Autumn 9.08
7. Into the Woods 5.08
8. Weighed Down with Sorrow 5.51
Bonustracks (Limited Edition)
9. The New Beginning
10. Into the Evernight
Total playing time 45.41 |
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| Review |
 18 / 20 |
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Insomnium are a band I first came across
when I caught them supporting Zyklon and Enslaved back in 2006. I
bought their previous full length, ‘Above The Weeping World’, and was
startled to find a melodic death metal band that provided an excellent
melancholic atmosphere, not unlike fellow Finns, death/doom titans
Swallow the Sun. I was excited to learn of ‘Across the Dark’, their
newest release, and have been glad to receive it.
The thing that most struck me about Insomnium were that they were a
melodic death metal band that took a more measured pace, and injected a
more mournful atmosphere into their work than the majority. Bands like
In Flames or Soilwork tend to barrel full speed ahead, and while I am a
fan of the genre and of those bands, I prefer the more atmospheric
pacing of bands like Insomnium. I have the same views on death metal
and black metal, it is just a preference of course, but I think a
slower pace can enhance an album. Insomnium have also a commanding
ability to structure their songs to include delicate pastoral acoustics
as well as grandiose riffs and melodies. The stand out track that
allows these elements to shine through on ‘Across the Dark’ is the 9
minute epic ‘The Lay of Autumn’. Encompassing all the parts of
Insomnium that make them such an excellent band, it could almost be THE
defining song of their career. They clearly have the spirit of their
Finnish counterparts working magic in amongst their riffs; gloomy
legends like Sentenced and Amorphis influence the rousing ‘Down With
the Sun’.
The vocals are your more standard death metal growl, but they are
interspersed with whispered lines and the clean singing of Jules Näveri
(Enemy of the Sun), which adds a nice touch to the atmosphere. As bands
like My Dying Bride have shown, a clear vocal can really bring a
melancholic atmosphere gravitas and weight, and here it does the same.
The album takes more influence from Katatonia and Opeth too, welding
subtle melodies to a sweeping riff structure and it never fails to
soar, even in its darkest moments. Closer ‘Weighted Down with Sorrow’
has an inappropriate title, for if there is one track that is fully
free it is this one. The sorrowful violin line that opens it soon melts
away into a huge riff, which allows the melodic lead to take it onward
and upward, reaching to break through the gloom. This is an album full
of landscape moments like this, written by a band who know how to
handle huge on a professional level.
I thought that Insomnium would struggle to surpass ‘Above the
Weeping World’, but this album is certainly a worthy successor. It
continues a line of impressive albums from these guys, and with every
release they become stronger, more inventive and more essential.
Hopefully ‘Across the Dark’ will allow them to be named up there as one
of the best Finnish exports for a long time.
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