Insomnium

Hanging Garden – The Garden Review

By Steel Druhm on March 24, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 29 comments

“Hanging Garden is that “other” Finnish melodic doom-death act that often gets overshadowed by the likes of Amorphis, Insomnium, and Omnium Gatherum. They’ve been around since 2004 and cranking out gothy melo-doom since 2007, and though they’ve been somewhat inconsistent over their career, the last few albums have been quite good with great moments scattered about. I was especially impressed by 2021s Skeleton Lake, which delivered exactly the kind of weepy, sadboi doom death I appreciate.” Hanging in the garden of sadz.

Shores of Null – The Loss of Beauty Review

By Grymm on March 20, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 56 comments

“It’s a dreary, overcast March afternoon as I type this review. The ground remains caked in mud, the air battles between the dampness of southern humidity and the frigidity of winds that blowing in from the north, and even though it’s not raining yet, the weather-induced migraine that I’m currently nursing indicates that it desperately wants to pour any given minute now. Needless to say, it would be par for the course for the last, oh, couple of weeks here in weather-temperate Florida. Normally, I would also say it would be an ideal day to review The Loss of Beauty, the fourth full-length by Italian doom merchants Shores of Null.” Metal for all seasons.

Ocean of Grief – Pale Existence Review

By Steel Druhm on March 3, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 45 comments

A rare double review arrives with Steel Druhm and Doom_et_Al offering disparate takes on Pale Existence by Greek melodic doom-death outfit Ocean of Grief. Will it be clear sailing or storming seas (ov deep sadness)?

Insomnium – Anno 1696 Review

By Steel Druhm on February 22, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 132 comments

“1670 A.D. through 1700 was not a good time for Scandinavia. Famine put large swaths of the population in the ground and religious fervor led to horrific witch hunts with scores of women executed in gruesome ways. It is these especially dark times that Insomnium turned to for the inspiration for ninth album, Anno 1696. The concept revolving around the clash between Christianity and paganism, ruthless religious persecution, and the supernatural all plays out to Insomnium’s signature blend of melodeath, doom, and dark folk/goth.” The bad olde days.

Stuck in the Filter: November & December’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on January 31, 2023 in Blog Posts, Reviews, 41 comments

“It’s a new year, and with it comes a sense of determination to make 2023 our best and most awesomest year to date. Part of that goal involves digging deep and cleaning out the Filter of the last dregs from the final months of 2022. We caught most of the notable gems in our promo sump, but as always there were those few that fell into the wrong chute. This, the first Stuck in the Filter of 2023, is a register of our semi-precious finds!” Who finds “precious finds” in the filter?

I Am The Night – While the Gods Are Sleeping Review

By Grymm on May 3, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, 30 comments

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with pining for the olden days of yore. Retro-gaming is a lucrative, enjoyable hobby that not only fires the synapses of Those Who’ve Been There, but also introduces a new generation of gamers to legendary titles. Classic movies get remade and reworked all the time with varying degrees of success. And in metal, people romanticize about a time when being evil required more than initials-for-names and ominous hooded sweatshirts. Two of those people are Markus Vanhala, guitarist for both Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, and his OG ex-bandmate, bassist Janne Markannen. Yearning to dive into the classic 90s wave of black metal, they enlisted members of Abhorrence, Horizon Ignited, and Paradise Lost to pay tribute to the Black Wizards via their new project, I Am the Night.” Lease the night!

Be’lakor – Coherence Review

By El Cuervo on November 3, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 74 comments

“In a stunning display of journalistic talent, I actually still agree with the 3.5 I awarded to Be’lakor for their last record all the way back in 2016. Vessels was a solid successor to what distinguished gentlemen regard as one of the best one-two punches of melodic death metal: Stone’s Reach and Of Breath and Bone. It was an accomplished musical development from these records, though not a real development in quality. The 5-year gap since this is an especially long time in a world of 3-year album cycles, so does this indicate another assured step? A return to form?” Form and emptiness.

Feral Season – Rotting Body in the Range of Light Review

By Twelve on October 18, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, 19 comments

“Feral Season is a great band name, and Rotting Body in the Range of Light is an album title I can definitely get behind. It’s nice when a band is able to immediately tell you what you’re going to be in for before you’ve reached the play button, and everything about this package, from the promo text to the “black metal” label to the album art, looked promising.” Angry kitties and suspicious promises.

Wooden Veins – In Finitude Review

By Twelve on June 6, 2021 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 28 comments

“In recent weeks, I’ve been making an effort to embrace an ideology readily encouraged by some of my fellow writers here at Angry Metal Guy – namely, that you should pick out your reviews, at least some of the time, without sampling available singles or excerpts. When I saw In Finitude resting in the Promo Pit, I made no exception. I know it’s the debut full-length release from a Chilean band called Wooden Veins, whose members have credits involving Chilean doom metal bands like Mourning Sun, and that the band labels itself is an avant-garde force in the scene. I also know what the cover looks like, and that was it.” Expect the unexpected.

Dark the Suns – Suru raivosi sydämeni pimeydessä Review

By Steel Druhm on April 7, 2021 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 15 comments

“Anyone remember these guys? No? Dark the Suns were part of the gothic melodeath wave that came along in the wake of Theatre of Tragedy in the late 90s and early aughts. You’d be forgiven for missing these Finns though, as their output was never all that compelling or memorable. They did manage three full-length releases however, with the last hitting in 2010. After that they faded into the Goth ether. Because they never seemed to gain any real traction in their “heyday,” I was rather surprised to see their name appear in the promo sump. So surprised in fact that I was compelled to find out what could have brought the band back after 10 long years in the grave.” Prodigal suns.