Noumena - Anatomy Of Life

Published Jan. 17 2007

*=Staff's pick	Misanthropolis Burden Of Solacement* Retrospection The Burning Monument Of Pain* Triumph And Loss Marionettes* Through The Element Fire And Water

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Antti Haapanen	Vocals
Tracks	9	Tuukka Tuomela	Guitar
Runningtime	44 Min.	Ville Lamminaho	Guitar
Label	Spinefarm	Hannu Savolainen	Bass
Release	01 Nov. 2006	Ikka Unborn	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	---

Finnish metal does somehow always reach out in one way or another. It doesn't matter whether its about doom, grind, thrash/death or a supersonic space industrial adventure which just have happened to take the musical turn. I cant think of a band that been raised in the land of thousand lakes and do their thing clean and simple. There is always a wicked twist to it. Perhaps its unfair to say, I don't know. But surely there are way to often I hear overworked material from this land. By that I am not saying that all music is crap but it takes a lot more than excellent musicianship and some crossover ideas to end up with a given success. Some times it works, suprisingly many times it doesn't.

With Anatomy Of Life, Noumena do as many landsmen done before them; search in the outer borders for the experimental crossover touch. This time the difference can be found in the ingredients which is a blend of quite slow and catchy death metal with a not so modest touch of heavy metal. The vocals from Antti Haapanen make me think of the early works from Paradise Lost. Really deep guttural sounds that fit the half sleepy melancholy melodies, and even more appropriate is it when the cleaner version of the vocals are revealed in the Monument Of Pain song. Too bad that this combination isn't used more as this must be the best Hetfield sound-a-like I've heard. This said without sarcasm.

Passion and pain sum up the vocals well. Anatomy Of Life seems like a well planned opus, and it is in many ways. The musical journey feels solid as a rock. Good song writing and a good sense for catchy rhythm sections and melodies. The thing I miss that would fit this band is a more darker approach since during the run of the album I sit and wait eagerly for the perfect doom line to strike me, but sadly it never appears.

Despise the lack of doom, Anatomy Of Life is a quite interesting album with slow tempo based death metal. Well mixed with the flavour of equal parts of heavy metal and acoustic sections with clean female vocals. Quite well and anonymously produced. A well working Finnish hybrid by the way. Not that this album would be my final and last choice in this world or so, but it has my total respect.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	6	7	6

Summary
6,5 chalices of 10 - Tim