INSOMNIUM
It’s a case of letting the music wash over you with Insomnium’s fourth full length and it ticks all the boxes of melo-death in the vain of fellow Finns Amorphis, but I do wonder whether it washes over a little too much. I have listened to the album a fair few times now and I usually find myself distracted to return to it again a few minutes later and realise I’m on another song! It’s a good job track five, ‘Against the Stream’ kicks in to jolt you back to the album. Now don’t get me wrong, the album is well played and there is some great crafting of songs on it, and I am sure it will appeal to many but, personally, I am getting a little tired of the genre which has some great bands in and I’m finding them all merging too much into one sounding band sometimes! No boundaries broken then by Insomnium, but taken as a whole the album has the right amount of emotion and the keyboards (provided by Aleksi Munter from Swallow the Sun) help layer the emotion and work well with the songs. It may not be the first album I reach for, admittedly, but I will certainly listen to it more times and there may well be hidden depths that are still to be discovered to these ears!
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Candlelight Records
Album
ACROSS THE DARK
Review by Paul Sims
RUNNING TIME:
45:40
RELEASE DATE:
7th Sept 2009
TRACK LISTING
1) Equivalence
2) Down With The Sun
3) Where The Last Wave Broke
4) The Harrowing Years
5) Against The Stream
6) Lay of Autumn
7) Into The Woods
8) Weighed Down with Sorrow
2) Down With The Sun
3) Where The Last Wave Broke
4) The Harrowing Years
5) Against The Stream
6) Lay of Autumn
7) Into The Woods
8) Weighed Down with Sorrow
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Finland
"It’s a case of letting the music wash over you with Insomnium’s fourth full length and it ticks all the boxes of melo-death...but I do wonder whether it washes over a little too much."