Across the Dark

For any band, whether metal or not, it is difficult to continually put forth albums that are all high quality. Some bands have a strong start, and then fall into mediocrity and, in my eyes, are not able to live up to what they were in their beginning. Some bands have decent albums, but then have that one album which is of exceptional quality. Insomnium is one of those bands that has set the bar high since the beginning of their career and then continues to reach or exceed that bar with each album they put forth. Across the Dark is Insomnium’s fourth full length album and it does not fail to disappoint.

One thing that has always attracted me to Insomnium’s work is the atmosphere that is contained within their albums. It’s hard to fully describe Insomnium’s atmosphere, at most times, it is sad and depressing. The perfect example of this is the closer to Across the Dark, “Weighed Down With Sorrow”. The beginning of the track begins with close to a minute of slowly played violins. This leads into an absolutely crushing riff, which helps create a feeling of despair. Tied in with the lyrics of the song and their masterful delivery, the song can be quite depressing. Then there are songs like “Down With the Sun”, which produces an atmosphere that puts the listener in a peaceful, dreamlike state. This atmosphere is created during the chorus of the song, where there is a pretty fast riff playing while front man Niilo Sevänen whispers the lyrics in the chorus. He then switches to his harsh growls, repeating what he has whispered. However this time, the riff becomes much more prominent, and there are keyboards in the background.

The musicianship present on Across the Dark is fantastic. It seems that the members of the band have really learned to compose songs and riffs to help songs become entertaining and help move the song forward. Many riffs on the album are quite catchy and pretty fast. Added to this, they are well played. The beginning of “Against the Stream” and “Into the Woods” displays this quite well. For the more emotional tracks, the music moves at a slower pace, yet the riffs can be quite beautiful. The acoustic sections of the album are very well played, and just like other aspects of the album, they add to the sheer emotion present in the songs. The drums on Across the Dark are good as well. They are not overly complex, but they add to each of the songs. This is great because the drums do not clash with the rest of the instruments and this helps the listener become aware of the song as a whole and not just a specific element of a song such as the vocals or the guitars. As with many melodeath albums, keyboards are present on Across the Dark. In Across the Dark, the keyboards serve the purpose of adding to the atmosphere present in the album. They add emotion, without becoming overbearing to the listener, something that plagues many bands. Another thing that is important to address when talking about Across the Dark, or other Insomnium albums, is that there are some elements of doom throughout the album. These elements are masterfully placed in the album, and they help Insomnium stand out from other melodeath bands.

The vocals on the album that are done by Niilo are just as good as the musicianship that is present. Niilo’s growls are superb; they can be very forceful at times, helping songs progress. The whispered sections add emotion and atmosphere, and the transition between the whispered vocals and the harsh vocal really adds to the appeal of Across the Dark. This can be heard in the song “Down With the Sun”, which I have already mentioned. The transition between the two types of Niilo’s vocals helps makes “Down With the Sun” one of the strongest songs on the album. They are done expertly throughout the song with flawless transitions.

When I heard that Insomnium was coming out with their fourth full length album, I can honestly say I was worried with how it would turn out. This worry I had about Across the Dark stemmed from the fact that the band decided to add clean vocals to this album. The first three albums released by Insomnium had no clean vocals, and I was worried that these vocals would somehow change the structure of Insomnium’s songs or make some other aspect of the band become less important. There are many melodeath bands that have albums where many songs are filled with clean vocals. Though this may not be bad, I wanted Insomnium to stay with the structure they had on their previous albums since they all turned out to be solid albums. Surprisingly enough, I am pleased with how these vocals turned out. The clean vocals are provided by Jules Näveri, from bands such as Profane Omen and Enemy of the Sun. They are well executed and are not actually present on much of the album. When they are present, they help add to the emotion of songs. Also, the clean vocals are sometimes mixed with Niilo’s growls, which can create quite a unique sound.

From start to finish, Across the Dark is a superb album that is filled with emotion and atmosphere. It is a worthy addition to Insomnium’s already stellar discography. With each album they release, Insomnium continues to please, and any fan of melodeath should look into buying Across the Dark. In addition, if you are debating whether or not to buy the special addition of Across the Dark, I would suggest that you buy it. It comes with an extra two songs that are superb. The first bonus song is “The New Beginning”, which starts out with rough production, but then breaks into a track with cleaner production that will please any Insomnium fan. The second song is “Into the Evernight”, which was recorded during the band’s second album. Both songs are a nice addition to Across the Dark, and together they add about thirteen minutes of music to Across the Dark. If you decide to forgo the special addition, Across the Dark is still a necessary addition to the collection of any melodeath fan.