Insomnium - In the Halls of Awaiting (2002)

When I look back to 2002 I can clearly remember that Candlelight Records ad in Metal Maniacs mag, likewise I recall seeing numerous reviews praising the shit out of this one and most of all for about the past five years I've had two friends saying, "Dude, fucking check out Insomnium, already!" Did I check out Insomnium, well no, that is until a few months ago when I had a gift card to use and not being able to think of anything else to pick up I went with this, the bands debut, which has been praised and loved for nearly a decade now.

Generally billed as a melodic death metal act, this Joensuu, Finland based band sounds a bit different from the typical and played out Swedish Gothenburg sound, even if some very common characteristics do still exist. Perhaps what makes it different is simply because the song writing is way above average with simply brilliant and beautiful guitar melodies plus each song has a part(s) that completely hooks you in and absorbs you while the occasional presence of acoustic guitars and keyboards enhance the mood even further. There's also a sense of progressiveness in this music, which makes it almost Opeth-ish, though the songs are hardly that long, but then again they don't necessarily follow the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus format either.

Also where most melo death bands go for a tough hard hitting energetic mood, Insomnium tends to have a somewhat calmer vibe to their music with plenty of melancholy melodies, which of course just makes the music all the more special. You could almost say that Insomnium plays melodic death/doom, and why not with such a band name, the gloomy imagery and lyrics that seem to be largely centered around misery. That's the not to say the guitars or drums are not played fast, because sometimes they rip along quite hastily, nor is there any weakness in the guttural vocal department, but listening to a song, such as, 'The Elder' will reveal just how blending melody and melancholy can create something absolutely unique.

I'm also pleased to say that there isn't any metalcore, thrash or lame pop-ish bullshit within this music, which to me just says that when they recorded this record they had no huge desire to make it in the business, but rather they just wanted to write and record marvelous songs from the deepest depths of their souls. In a lot of ways, 'In the Halls of Awaiting' sounds like vintage melo death, but with the Finnish charm of atmosphere, which is something that has been lost in really all forms of metal these days.

Considering my current erectness towards most things Finnish these days it would probably be a mistake to ignore the rest of this bands discography as I'm quite curious to see if things just get better from here or if the band develops their sound over the course of the five albums they've now released.