In the next few days, I'll go through the Insomnium discography, and take a look at their music for the first time. I know they are one of the biggest melodic death metal bands around, but hey, there is so much music in the world, there will always be a band, or a movie, or a book you didn't go through.
So, with this said, welcome to something different I wanted to try out, welcome to "Discography check". And as you can probably tell, I will use this as an excuse to check out bands that I haven't had a chance, but I wanted to. So lets go!
Short biography:
Strange and formidable things may grow from humble beginnings. Back in 1997, in a remote town of Joensuu, beyond the great vast forests of eastern Finland, some teenage metalheads got together to play loud and fierce music, drink beer and have fun. Little did they knew that two decades later they would be saluted as one of the spearheads of their genre, preparing to release their 8th studio album and embark on another world tour.
For "In the Halls of Awaiting", Niilo (Vocals/Bass) comments:
"Summer of 2001. We had a record deal with Candlelight and budget to make an album. Ville Vänni had just joined the band. Our friend Jone Väänänen had built a new studio to Joensuu. We were young and enthusiastic and very thirsty. It was awesome. The bandphotos were taken in the same location in Joensuu where we shot the latest Heart Like a Grave pics. The album was ready in autumn, but we had to wait half a year till it came out. At one point I went to the local record store every day to check if it finally was there."
There is a history between me and this album, and when I said that I'm hearing this one for the first time, I kinda lied. In high school, I had "Black Waters" in my mobile phone, so I listened to that song regularly, but I never put extra effort to listen to a whole album, and now, 10 years later, here I am.
"In the Halls of Awaiting" is a great debut from Insomnium and a perfect getaway drug to death metal. They sound like early In Flames, with the touch of dirtiness and grittiness from the Scandinavian old school death metal scene. What I like the most here is the melancholic atmosphere, that was crafted with such skill through music and lyric writing. Vocals are naturally enhanced by the guitar riffs and together, they are making such a beautiful union giving another dimension to the music that Insomnium creates. The only band that compliments vocals with riffs like this beside Insomnium, is Be'lakor that I have fully covered already on my blog page.
Line up:
Niilo Sevänen - Vocals, Bass
Ville Friman - Guitars
Ville Vänni - Guitars
Markus Hirvonen - Drums
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/insomniumofficial
http://www.insomnium.net/
https://www.instagram.com/insomniumofficial/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uIgLG971oRM5fe6v8lvQS
https://twitter.com/insomniumband
https://www.youtube.com/user/insomniumchannel
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Insomnium - In the Halls of Awaiting / Candlelight Records / 2002.