Paradise Belongs to You

The first thing about Paradise Belongs to You that captivated my attention was its cover, which depicts a deer, frozen stiff and half buried in a snow drift. This stark and beautifully organic image sets the tone for a melodic and slowly plodding work of art. More than two decades after its release, I think Saturnus’ debut is worth praising today, and I encourage you to check it out.

“Plodding” does not describe the entire album, and there are well-executed tempo changes within the songs. Nevertheless, Paradise Belongs to You is cohesive in pacing and somber mood. The album has an undertone of something that feels like religious reverence, nodded to in lyrics and present in the atmosphere. At times, this brings one’s imagination to a gothic cathedral towering above a grove of leafless trees; at others, to a pagan story about woodlands and the cycles of the seasons in nature. Poet William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is quoted in whisper on one track. In several interviews, the band has made references to a nihilistic philosophy, so perhaps any spiritual connotations are only in the ear of the listener.

The melodies are memorable to the point of being catchy, and no one instrument hogs the spotlight. Kim Larsen’s guitar work is slow and emotional, with interludes of complex acoustic guitar. The drums, played by Jesper Saltoft, march the album along its unhurried pace. The keyboards (Jesper Saltoft and Anders Nielsen) weave a melancholic and eerie atmosphere in the background. Piano, flute and cello make the occasional appearance, as do some recordings of birds chirping. At times, Brian Hansen’s basslines come to the foreground, building depth in the music. Thomas Jensen’s deep, growling vocals are almost unexpected in the music, but not out of place.

The album has a feeling of mysteriousness to it, as if one was lucky to discover it at all. Part of this comes from the fact that, while Paradise Belongs to You is highly rated in every review I have found, very little is written about it online. As the first full-length offering from a lesser known Danish metal band, this is not terribly surprising, but this album is a true gem.