Insomnium

Although Sweden and Norway are the first countries that come to mind when one thinks of Scandinavian metal, Finland has turned out to be an impressive player as well - impressive for black metal, impressive for folk metal, impressive for goth metal, and impressive for death metal. Insomnium have epitomized the melodic side of Finnish death metal and they continue in that vein on Across the Dark. This 2009 release isn't a radical departure from Insomnium's previous albums, but there is one noticeable difference: this time, they incorporate some clean vocals - which are provided by Jules Näveri (who, in European metal circles, is known for his contributions to the bands Profane Omen, Misery Inc., Burning Empire, and Enemy of the Sun)…

Winter's Gate is a concept album that is made of one epic 40 minute song. The album is built around a short story Winter's Gate (Talven portti in Finnish) by Niilo Sevänen, which won awards and nominations in Finland back in 2007 and 2008. It's a story about a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west from Ireland, even though the winter is drawing near. Insomnium have proved yet again why they are kings of this genre, creating something that is immersive, transformative, ambient and most importantly - complete. Winter’s Gate not only hits every single mark set before it, but tramples them into the carpet underneath it. It is one of the greatest works of Insomnium to date, and is a prime example of a band that has flourished on its strengths while ironing out its flaws to produce the powerhouse that this album is.

The '90s and 2000s have also seen a wave of Nordic death metal bands that are highly melodic, and Finland's Insomnium is part of that trend. The most extreme thing about Since the Day It All Came Down is the vocal style; lead singer/bassist Niilo Sevänen sings in a deep, guttural, demonic-sounding growl that exemplifies the stereotypical image of death metal singing. But other than that, this 2004 release isn't so extreme. Musically, Insomnium owes a lot to '80s power metal favorites like Queensrÿche, Iron Maiden, Savatage, and King Diamond - like those headbangers, Insomnium provides metal that is forceful yet musical and intricate - and early thrash is an influence as well. If Sevänen favored a more conventional vocal style, this CD would probably be considered power metal or thrash instead of death metal/black metal…

In death metal, quest for maturity has given us the nuanced world of melodic death metal - a world that death metal's stubborn, myopic purists denounce as watered down, but a world in which engaging albums like Above the Weeping World are created. Anyone who doubts that death metal has more than one flavor (ultra-fast, amelodic and consistently vicious) needs to give this 52-minute CD a very close listen. Insomnium's sense of melody and harmony is striking. Exquisitely crafted, the songs on Above the Weeping World demonstrate that the term "melodic death metal" is no oxymoron for Insomnium…

Following the release of the universally praised Winters Gate in 2016, many people thought that Insomnium had hit their peak. Where could the band go after creating a single body of beautifully captivating music that had a momentous and timeless progression to it’s 40-minute running time? It was certainly an interesting conundrum for a band that has been on a steady climb through the melodic death metal ranks over the past decade. Enter the band’s 2019 follow up Heart Like A Grave, which sees Insomnium returning to a more condensed (and multiple songs) formats, injecting new life into their music with a new member, and creating an album which sits as a true testament to their entire catalog of work to date.

While they've never exactly qualified as paparazzi targets, the members of Finnish gothic death metal ensemble Insomnium always seem to keep a pretty low profile between albums, happily buggering off to their respective caves for hibernation or whatever it is they do up there in the frozen north. All jesting aside, when the band eventually resumes its rock & roll existence, a grand reentrance is almost de rigueur, and fifth album One for Sorrow's deliberate, slow-rising intro piece, "Inertia," delivers just that, via minimal echoes and ghostly cymbals that evolve through marshal rhythms and murmured growls into the recognizable blend of thundering riffs, lush synths, and spine-tingling howls that define the Gothenburg metal style…

Few bands bring together sounds of darkness, melody, and musicality like Finland’s Insomnium. With Anno 1696, the ninth installment in their sonic explorations that include masterworks like Shadows of the Dying Sun (2014) or Winter’s Gate (2016), Insomnium continues to weave together bitter branches of sound that set the standard for nightmares to come. From the sweeping soundscapes and spare chords that open the record with the track "1696" to the sonic stormcloud and deathly snarl of ‘White Christ’, the haunting "Godforsaken", the catchiness of "Lilian" to the album's epic closer, The Rapids", Anno 1696 is a soundtrack of intensity and despair that pulls you in and never lets go. A tour de force of Finnish melancholy.

The "Argent Moon EP" features 4 brand new, previously unreleased tracks by Insomnium. Another masterpiece of Northern melancholia by the Finnish melodic death metal masters!

Let us take you back into the dark and troublesome past of Northern Europe, a time of witches, of superstition, of bloodlust and frenzy. In November, we will continue the epic story of "Anno 1696" on our addendum-like EP "Songs of the Dusk", featuring 22 minutes of music and three more journeys into a dark and foggy past.
"We simply had eleven great songs, and we thought that this material is too good to be 'just' bonus tracks," Niilo Sevänen states. "They are part of the big story, so you can think of them as the director’s cut material that tells a little extra. For those who want to have more."

Joensuu, Finland-based melodic death metal band Insomnium have announced that they will issue four-song EP Argent Moon on September 17th, 2021 through Century Media Records. Frontman Niilo Sevänen commented: “When the Corona outbreak forced us to cancel all the tours and shows, we pretty soon adopted a mindset that we better do something and keep ourselves in motion. We wanted to try how the streaming shows might work. We wanted to see what kind of new music might grow in the darkness and misery of the quarantine. And soon these vibes were channeled into songs that came to be the Argent Moon EP. “We wanted to try something a bit different so all the four songs on this release represent the softer side of Insomnium. The ballads and the mellow tunes. Acoustic guitars and clean vocals. The sorrow and agony that creeps into your heart when the nights grow longer. But fear not, we haven’t changed our style. Next album will be something different again. We used all the ballad ideas here so maybe it will be pure blast beats. We shall see.