ALBUM REVIEW: Heart Like A Grave – Insomnium

For nearly two decades now, Eastern Finns INSOMNIUM have been at the top-tier of the European melodic death metal scene, harnessing doomy melancholy and devastating brutality in equal measure. By the time the quintet released their 2014 opus Shadows Of The Dying Sun, the band were well established in their sound, rarely deviating from their reliable brand of heart-wrenching melo-death. However, with their 2016 follow up Winter’s Gate, INSOMNIUM took a very different tact, crafting an epic one-song album spanning just shy of 40 minutes. A wildly ambitious project, but one that paid dividends. With a return to a more standard album format with their newest offering, Heart Like A Grave, do we see the band reverting back to their reliable – if slightly predictable – stylings, or are we entering a new aeon for the Finnish legends?

A soft piano gently opens Heart Like A Grave, building into the synth-heavy, doom-laden pseudo-intro track Wail Of The North, setting the sombre tone immediately. Leading somewhat abruptly into lead single Valediction, it becomes immediately clear that this is INSOMNIUM at their very best; inspired, hungry and truly epic. Beautiful cleanly sung verses trade with the growling choruses from front man Niilo Sevänen, and, overall, we get a far catchier, grander brand of INSOMNIUM than we’re used to while Neverlast trades the doomy melancholy for up-tempo aggression, throwing classic melodeath into play amid grooves, a huge chorus and a tastefully understated solo.

The Finnish melodic death metal scene has a long-held reputation for delivering melancholy hand in hand with pure melodeath savagery. Nine minute epic Pale Morning Star embodies this perfectly. Minor key flourishes and solo work has the track drenched in misery, juxtaposing the typical melodic death metal aggression. A stand out highlight from Heart Like A Grave, here we see the grandiose scale of the record hit its peak – though it hasn’t even begun its descent yet. And Bells They Toll slumps forward like a dirge, maintaining the incredible atmosphere of Pale Morning Star while doubling down on the melancholy – though the beautiful refrain of “And bells they toll/In bleak morning light,” is an instantly unforgettable hook. Seeing Heart Like A Grave well into its second half, The Offering brings back an intense energy, while Mute Is My Sorrow keeps the momentum going, dropping hooks and crushing riffs left right and centre – with a heavy dose of heartache for good measure. Another incredible stand out moment.

Maintaining the grandiose nature of the album, the closing triplet of Twilight Trails, Heart Like A Grave‘s title track and Karelia collectively clock in at 22 minutes on the button – there is no rushed ending here at all. Twilight Trails is an incredible way for INSOMNIUM to begin to bring the record to a close, bringing a subtle black metal influence in the tremolo riffs and a gut-punching heaviness amid the soaring melodies and blitzkrieg solo work. A subdued interlude brings a slightly uneasy feeling, building to Twlight Trails‘ climax in fantastic fashion. Meanwhile, title track Heart Like A Grave open with ethereal, goose-bump inducing guitars that build into another dirge-like affair, before swinging back to the subdued opening licks. Climatic piece Karelia is perfectly placed; from the opening notes the band deliver that same bittersweet feeling of a journey’s end. Karelia transitions into a doomier offering with the melodies and lead-work taking centre stage for much of its run-time. The lack of Sevänen‘s vocals allows the instrumental space to breathe, touching emotions and leading Heart Like A Grave to a classically INSOMNIUM-esque sombre close.

Epic is a word that is thrown around a little too recklessly, but these four letters perfectly encapsulate the feeling of Heart Like A Grave, in the truest sense of the word. Though we see a return to a collection of songs, rather than one gargantuan piece with this record, the incredibly grandiose atmosphere that gave Winter’s Gate a cinematic edge has returned in abundance. Ranging from being the perfect soundtrack for walking alone through a winter forest to making the listener want to scream into the wind from atop a snow-capped mountain, INSOMNIUM manage to incredibly convey the epic nature of their songwriting in a more condensed form throughout Heart Like A Grave in a way they had never quite managed to before. A wonderful triumph from one of the genre’s most prominent voices.

Rating: 9/10

Heart Like A Grave is set for release October 4th via Century Media Records. 

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