Insomnium - One For Sorrow

You know it's a good year for metal when Insomnium release a new album. It's often said that the only people who don't like Insomnium are people who haven't heard Insomnium, and One For Sorrow doesn't seem set to change that any time soon.

Right from the off this is immediately recognisable as an Insomnium record, from the whispered, almost instrumental opening track to the heavy yet intricate melodies. Not wishing to rest on their laurels, while still maintaining their signature sound, there are some interesting additions.

The first, and most notable, variation is an interesting play on clean vocals in a death metal album. The clean vocals overlay the deep and resonating growls making for a menacing and certainly unsettling sound. This technique is used several times and always works well. The rest of the time the vocals are pure growl, as can be expected, nay, demanded from a band so firmly entrenched in the melodic death genre.

The other new thing is a purely instrumental track that seems to be the antithesis of Insomnium; Decoherence is so tranquil and gentle I have dozed off while listening to it, only to nearly jump out of my skin at the opening bars of Lay The Ghost To Rest.

The rest of the album is loosely based around One For Sorrow, a traditional rhyme steeped in superstition. The subject and lyrics of the rhyme vary from place to place, but it is always based around crows, magpies, jackdaws or blackbirds, the number of which tell the fortune of the beholder. The rhyme goes up to ten birds, and so there are ten tracks (well, eleven on the limited edition). Each one explores something new, although the link between the song and the matching line from the rhyme isn't always obvious.

It's almost impossible to be disappointed with this album. I'm sure some would have liked more progression, or at least more variety, but this album represents more a honing of a style than a departure from one. If you like Insomnium, you will like One For Sorrow. And if you don't, then you obviously haven't heard them yet.

Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising

There's something about the Finnish that makes them produce fantastic metal. Before The Dawn are one such band, and they're at it again with album number 6, Deathstar Rising. Not an easy album to find details about, what with Wookiepedia dominating search results, it is nonetheless a fine addition to this band's portfolio.

Before The Dawn have a very distinctive sound. Deathstar Rising is recognisably a Before The Dawn album, but with some interesting shifts in style. Tuomas Saukkonen's harsh growls are offset by Lars Eikind's powerful clean vocals once more, but this time the balance has shifted. The clean vocals come to the fore and, in some cases, overshadow the growls. This works well and gives the existing sound a whole new dynamic.

The songwriting is pretty much standard Before The Dawn fare. Strong riffs and dark themes abound and many of the songs are as dark and brooding as one might expect. The melodic death riffs and complex, precise drumming make for an interesting, immersive sound.

After a short musical opener to set the scene, Winter Within hurtles straight into the thrust of the album. This leads neatly into the title track, Deathstar. The songs are catchy enough to provide many sing (or growl) along moments.

Judgement showcases the gothic elements further, but with an infectious riff running through it. This is one of the tracks featuring primarily clean verses with a growl chorus. Certainly one of the highlights of the album.

If I were to pick fault, which I am loath to do, I would have to say that some of the songs are quite similar. In particular Deathstar and Remebrance seem to run together into one long song. If you're not concentrating and don't notice the song change, you may, as I did, be confused that the chorus suddenly has different lyrics. It's a minor thing, though. Deathstar is such a good song that accidentally having more of it's no a bad thing.

Multi-Musical Mon...Wednesday!

It's been quite a week for new music so far. Some new discoveries, some unexpected surprises, and some new artists to watch out for.

We discovered recently that Tarot, featuring Marco Hietala of Nightwish fame, were releasing a new album in April. The band's last album, Crows Fly Back, is a nice, crunchy heavy metal album and Gravity Of Light is more of the same. Chugging guitar mixed with twiddly riffs make for a well produced metal album. More on this one later.

At the same time, I picked up Isolation Songs by Ghost Brigade on the recommendation of Last.fm. I'm glad I did. A combination of melodic death, doom and prog metal with the requisite riffage, screams, growls and clean vocal and a melodic yet thudding bass. Good listening for death and prog metal fans alike, I can't fault this albums technical ability. It's not quite as catchy as Dark Tranquillity, and not as complex as Opeth, but maybe those comparisons aren't really fair. They are hard acts to be compared to. I like it, and if you like DT or Opeth, I think you'll like it too.

If that lot isn't exciting enough, the discoveries continue. An article on Invisible Oranges alerted me to a new death metal album from Martriden. Encounter The Monolith is a concept album based loosely on 2001, and uses Martriden's ludicrously fast beat to good effect. It's a 45 minute, 6 track album, and when it ends it seems like an age, yet no time at all. Once your ears get used to the onslaught of relentless drums and some superb guitar noodling, it's hard to slow down to the more pedestrian pace of normality. Bought it yesterday and managed 5 listens already. Enough said.

Another thing that caught my attention was Trent Reznor's latest project, How To Destroy Angels. A bit less industrial than NIN stuff, but not as electronicy as later freebies, this debut EP, available free, is a decent mix of post-industrial rock with female vocal. It works really well and is definitely worth keeping track of in future.

And last, but by no means least, Anathema have finally released a new album! A mere 7 years in the making, We're Here Because We're Here was finally released on May 31st. My copy is on order and should arrive on Friday, at which point I'll actually find out what it sounds like. Should be good.

We Are The Void

Creepy. If there's one word to describe Dark Tranquillity's latest album, it has to be "creepy". From the eerie tones of Shadow In Our Blood to the disturbing lyrics of Her Silent Language, this album with send shivers down your spine and make your heart skip with excited trepidation. It is, quite frankly, brilliant.

As with many DT albums, it took a couple of listens to really take hold. Best done in isolation with a decent set of headphones and no lights. Having said that, I have been listening to Shadow In Our Blood, the opening track, since the video was released a couple of weeks before the album launch and was immediately hooked. My pre-ordered special edition arrived a couple of days before the official release date, and since then it's rapidly shot up the ranks of my personal "best of DT" list.

The guitarwork is, as usual, brilliant. It's no exaggeration to say they have the best riffs in metal, and Mikael Stanne uses clean and cookie monster vocal to great effect throughout. The drums, too, are a something to behold. Driving the melody with heavy bass and changing signatures to reinforce the mood of the album.

Watch out toward the end of In My Absence. Around the 4 minute mark. Are you listening? Did it make your fingers go numb and your heart jump into your throat? That's the quality of this album. Genuine emotional response. Genuine reaction to the music.

We Are The Void has taken it's rightful place in DT history. It is a superb accomplishment and, dare I say it, maybe rivalling Fiction and even Projector for the crown of best DT album ever.

If you haven't heard it, get it. If you have, appreciate the artistry, the emotion and the sheer musical talent of Dark Tranquillity. It's worth it.

We Are The Void streamable now

Dark Tranquillity have made their upcoming album We Are The Void available in full on their MySpace page for a limited time only. If you just can't wait one more week to hear what's in store, head over there.

If you want to pre-order the CD, HMV are doing the CD+DVD digipak edition for a mere £8.99 including postage. There are rumours that some people have received their copies early. Hope I'm one of the lucky ones.

Dark Tranquillity - Shadow In Our Blood Video

In preparation for the March 1st release of We Are The Void, the 9th album from Swedish death metallers Dark Tranquillity, a video of Shadow In Our Blood has been released for your (and my) watching and listening pleasure. Containing perhaps the creepiest chorus riff in any DT song ever, coupled with quite a creepy visual, it's further proof that they are perhaps the finest death metal band on the planet. It just gets better every time I watch.