Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

Published Oct. 26 2006

*=Staff's pick	The Gale Mortal Share Drawn To Black Change Of Heart At The Gates Of Sleep The Killjoy* Last Statement* Devoid Of Caring In The Groves Of Death*

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Niilo Sevänen	Vocals
Tracks	9	Ville Friman	Guitar
Runningtime	53 Min.	Ville Vänni	Guitar
Label	Candlelight Records	Niilo Sevänen	Bass
Release	03 Oct. 2006	Markus Hirvonen	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Dark Tranquillity, Amorphis

Those who want their melodic death metal served with lots of darkness, plenty of acoustic passages, lyrics inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and a deep guttural vocalist should look no further than Insomnium. The Finnish quartet are now releasing their third album in six years, and while little has happened since the start, their home country has started showing interest, getting Above The Weeping World a high entry on the Finnish charts.

The song Mortal Share, the so called "hit" of the album, makes one immediately start drawing parallels to Dark Tranquillity's latest album Character, and the track Lost To Apathy in particular. The lead guitar is similar to say at least, and vocalist Niilo Sevänen sounds like he could be Mikael Stanne's younger brother. It's a good song that grows with time, but it would merely feel like filler material on an album of Character's might. Perhaps it's unfair to compare Above The Weeping World to such a masterpiece, but then again, why should the consumers settle for anything but the best?

Rather than writing ten or eleven shorter tracks, Insomnium here presents eight longer ones, minus the intro The Gale. Which means that there shouldn't be any fillers here, but sadly the song department still lacks in certain ways. When listening to an album for the first time, you kind of wish that each and every track has at least one part that grabs you. With Above The Weeping World it took me almost 25 minutes, before the track The Killjoy showed up and made me hit "pause". Then I listened from the beginning but with a higher volume. This song really delivers what the others failed with, which means a killer melody line, a great chorus and a masterful melancholic interlude.

It's a shame that Insomnium has hidden all the best tracks on the second half of the album, when it should be the other way around. Besides The Killjoy, the Katatonia-flirtation Last Statement impresses, and the guitar melody that takes the song home towards the end is probably the moment of the album. The ten minutes long closer In The Groves Of Death is interesting as well, and you can definitely trace the Opeth-influences during the last five minutes.

If the combination of old-school Gothenburg style and Finnish melancholy sounds interesting, this should be a winner. Above The Weeping World is a good and solid release, from a band that probably can do even better.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	7	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Niklas