It’s difficult to neatly summarize In Vain. Their music draws from myriad genres, including black metal, melodic death metal, progressive rock, folk and orchestral music. Solemn is heavy, melodic, diverse, expansive and emotive. But the real magic isn’t just in the variety of these elements; it’s in how they’re tied together. The songs here are densely compacted with instrumental layers and musical ideas but they’re never overwhelming. Solemn is a testament to sophisticated songwriting and production. The music is energetic and complex but the centripetal force of recurring riffs and melodies, and crisp instrumental tones and mastering, stop things from spiraling out of control. It’s the sort of music that drags your brain away from other activities and demands your attention. You could extract any minute-long passage from this record and find it replete with interesting but sticky material to unpack. Some music is intriguing without being memorable; In Vain do both.
They also find a way to extract every drop of pomp and pretension out of their music, but in a good way. There are plentiful examples of obscenely catchy harmonies of both the guitar and vocal variety. You just need to hear the bookending tracks called “Shadows Flap their Black Wings” and “Watch for Me on the Mountain” to experience this truth. And the judicious orchestrations compound this effect. The trumpets on the opener can only be described as extra, while the saxophone on “Season of Unrest” is one of the record’s highlight moments. In Vain convey size and scope better than almost any other artist. The nuanced arrangements are difficult to entirely appreciate on first listen but after repetition, as the hooks sink deeper, you begin to disentangle the layers. In brief, it’s easy to enjoy Solemn on first listen but it becomes even more rewarding over time.
Even the song structures are designed to invoke excitement. A number of the tracks run through a couple of verses and choruses before spreading outwards into less predictable territory. The music initially hooks you with a recognizable structure and melodies before challenging you to step out of this comfort zone with unpredictable angles, instrumental variety and progressive developments. This quality climaxes from “Season of Unrest” through “Where the Winds Meet.” The first of these leverages a mid-song interlude and its saxophone to achieve maximum size, while “At the Going Down of the Sun” references the highlight from Currents by fusing burly leads with epic harmonized clean singing. Nonetheless, “Where the Winds Meet” is the prize cut, and high on my song o’ the year shortlist. Its pre-chorus and chorus are ridiculously catchy and the shredding guitar lead from 2:30 is pure Cuervo bait. If I have a minor complaint it’s that the back third of the record, if only through passage of the first two-thirds, is more predictable. These songs are still better than most other things but the record is fully into its groove by this point.
In Vain are the most pompous metal bastards you’ll hear but I can’t complain because this album is so damn epic and so damn enjoyable. Despite its excesses, Solemn works because it’s remarkably balanced. It coalesces its varied inputs into a complex but digestible sound that easily flows between heavy and light, brutal and catchy. This can only be achieved through the accomplished, experienced instrumentalists and songwriters that occupy In Vain’s ranks. Solemn is an awe-inspiring release and one that any fan of metal shouldn’t miss.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: v0 mp3
Label: Indie Recordings
Websites: bandcamp.invain.com | facebook.com/invain
Releases Worldwide: April 19th, 2024
