ALBUM REVIEW: Dreams Of Lands Unseen – Ignea

Almost certainly the first concept album about Ukrainian photographer and travel writer Sofia Yablonska, melodic metallers IGNEA bring her adventures to life through their diverse musical palette and knack for storytelling. On this, their third album, they lean even further into unconventional instrumentation for a metal record, pushing their Middle Eastern influences to the fore to reflect the unfamiliar paths taken by Yablonska. The band’s trademark grooves keep them anchored as they explore these genre-defying sounds further, as do Helle Bohdanova’s beauty-and-the-beast vocals, smoothly switching between lilting earworms and aggressive growls.

It’s the band’s own sense of adventure that brings Dreams Of Lands Unseen to life. Engagement with the record’s concept isn’t a necessity, but it does allow IGNEA to imbue these tracks with a real sense of place. In Dunes, as Bohdanova delivers lines like “turn back and run from butchering sun” with ferocity over pounding kick-drums, she’s accompanied by melodies evoking the Sahara. Similarly, Nomad’s Luck is introduced with tribalistic percussion, scene-setting for a song about the dangers Yablonska faced on her travels, like toxic plants and dying of thirst. In an album full of catchy hooks, the chorus here is particularly infectious.

In fact, Bohdanova’s versatility is the band’s biggest selling point. Her clear diction makes even the shoutiest of passages accessible, while her knack for finding the right cadences to complement the subject matter makes the album feel properly considered. IGNEA want to capture both the sense of wonder and the sense of threat of exploring the world as a solo female traveller in the interwar period, and it’s in the light and shade of Bohdanova’s singing that this is fully realised.

And there is a lot of that shade. While sure to appeal to symphonic metal fans through its wondrous atmosphere and ethereal nature (especially on the instantaneous The Golden Shell), the record doesn’t scrimp on raw riffage. There is nothing gentle about the blast beats on the epic Opiumist, which features Tuomas Saukkonen of WOLFHEART bringing some guttural brutality to a song about a ‘heavy trip’. The juddering rhythms in Incurable Disease are custom-built to get heads banging, centring a traditional rock show at the heart of all this drama.

Dreams Of Lands Unseen’s success hinges on the balance between all these disparate elements. A metal record with an open-mind towards outside instrumentation; an eye-widening narrative that still needs to pack a punch. In that the album stands alone from the pack and continues to set IGNEA apart in a saturated scene, it is a significant win and another step forward for the Ukrainians.

Their nationality may feel like an elephant in the room at this unfortunate time. So it is that Далекі Обрії feels particularly triumphant, an absolute banger in the band’s mother tongue. On their Bandcamp, they say: “Despite the ongoing tensions in Ukraine causing immense challenges with their album production, IGNEA were never discouraged while creating [the album]. They firmly stand strong and proudly present their multifaceted voyage…” On the basis of Dreams Of Lands Unseen, they have much to feel strong and be proud of.

Rating: 8/10

Dreams Of Lands Unseen is set for release on 28th April via Napalm Records.

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