INSOMNIUM
It's been a fair old while since I last checked out any Insomnium, to be honest. No particular reason, other than it's impossible to listen to every new album and keep up with every band out there, right? There are only so many hours in the day. Yet, when this arrived for review, I thought it about time to re-engage with this Finnish bunch. It's been seven years since I last checked out Insomnium, at a Paradise Lost gig where they were the main support. And, based on 'Heart Like a Grave', they seem to have evolved to transform their melodic death foundations into something not only much more expansive, but also inclusive of all kinds of intriguing contrasts and dynamics.
There's something very nostalgic about this album; kind of mid to late 90s atmospherically melancholic metal vibes. But that's not to say it's merely retro mimicry at play here; rather, Insomnium have delivered an album in 2019 that sounds as relevant and as timeless now as it would've done twenty years ago... and will indubitably remain timelessly relevant another twenty years from now. Why? It's because of the stunning sense of songcraft at the heart of this beast, both compositionally and in terms of the wonderful arrangements, where the contrasts of the harsh and the mellow (vocal-wise and in the instrumentations); the dissonant and the euphonic; the pacing variations; and the overall lush atmospheres in each and every track, all combine on an album that transcends any sense of ephemeral genre trends. 'Heart Like a Grave' provides an engagingly varied emotional experience that will make you want to bang your head one minute, then become absorbed in its melodic beauty the next.
With musicianship of the highest calibre, it’s immediately evident with ‘Heart Like a Grave’ that there’s so much more to Insomnium than the mere melo-death for which they’ve become renowned. Just check out tracks like ‘Pale Morning Star’ and ‘Twilight Trails’, as these are songs that provide what feels like aurally narrative journeys, across various shifts and transitions, of which melo-death is only one part of the story. Recommended!
There's something very nostalgic about this album; kind of mid to late 90s atmospherically melancholic metal vibes. But that's not to say it's merely retro mimicry at play here; rather, Insomnium have delivered an album in 2019 that sounds as relevant and as timeless now as it would've done twenty years ago... and will indubitably remain timelessly relevant another twenty years from now. Why? It's because of the stunning sense of songcraft at the heart of this beast, both compositionally and in terms of the wonderful arrangements, where the contrasts of the harsh and the mellow (vocal-wise and in the instrumentations); the dissonant and the euphonic; the pacing variations; and the overall lush atmospheres in each and every track, all combine on an album that transcends any sense of ephemeral genre trends. 'Heart Like a Grave' provides an engagingly varied emotional experience that will make you want to bang your head one minute, then become absorbed in its melodic beauty the next.
With musicianship of the highest calibre, it’s immediately evident with ‘Heart Like a Grave’ that there’s so much more to Insomnium than the mere melo-death for which they’ve become renowned. Just check out tracks like ‘Pale Morning Star’ and ‘Twilight Trails’, as these are songs that provide what feels like aurally narrative journeys, across various shifts and transitions, of which melo-death is only one part of the story. Recommended!
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Century Media
Album
HEART LIKE A GRAVE
Review by Mark Holmes
RUNNING TIME:
61:02
RELEASE DATE:
4th October 2019
TRACK LISTING
1) Wail of the North
2) Valediction
3) Neverlast
4) Pale Morning Star
5) And Bells They Toll
6) The Offering
7) Mute is My Sorrow
8) Twilight Trails
9) Heart Like a Grave
10) Karelia
2) Valediction
3) Neverlast
4) Pale Morning Star
5) And Bells They Toll
6) The Offering
7) Mute is My Sorrow
8) Twilight Trails
9) Heart Like a Grave
10) Karelia
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Finland
"'Heart Like a Grave' provides an engagingly varied emotional experience that will make you want to bang your head one minute, then become absorbed in its melodic beauty the next."
