Our Voices Shall Remain

Honestly, I don’t know how to approach this one. ‘Our Voices’ is not really something for discussion or description and it feels almost sacrilegious, to speak about technicalities dealing with art of this level. But since it’s been out for 4 years and went completely under the radar, I feel myself obliged to give it the credit it deserves even by only such a little contribution as one text.

The record had been six years in the making and this decision was a deliberate one. The band admits they could have released it earlier, instead they chose to perfect it and make something they can all be truly proud of. Recorded during several periods over the years which was possible with the help of their new drummer, Juuso Backman, also a studio technician, ‘Our Voices’ shows what happens when an artist has a firm vision, is not limited by deadlines and is not influenced by a label. The production does not get better than this, be it balance, clarity, bass level, guitar tone or whatever else, going from outlining the finest details in the more quiet moments to an avalanche of sound colors when guitars blast in full scale. The songwriting is nothing short of astonishing, each track is a carefully crafted expanse of pure art, a voyage on its own, full of emotion, brilliance and perspective.

The album was written during the numerous improvisation sessions with the whole band present, and although my listening experience tells having one person supervising the creative process usually yields best results, the synergy here is downright flawless. Progressive in the very best sense, the music (except the bass-driven title track) has no distinct shape and follows no firm pattern, flowing by like a mist-covered mysterious stream. Another conscious decision was to give each song as much space as it requires, which resulted in 2-to-4 minutes awe-inspiring instrumental guitar sections beyond imaginable, the apex of melody expression, unlike anything I’ve ever, ever encountered.

The atmosphere conveyed is borderline unspeakable, like sailing the infinite sea of softly glowing aether clouds. Like being in the middle of nowhere and in the heart of everything simultaneously. It’s incredibly deep, delicate and all-encompassing, the beauty of the utmost degree, something so captivating and mesmerizing no language can really impart, speaking in a myriad of vivid images. The album offers some of the best lyrics I’ve read, concise and profound, dealing with love, loss, landscapes of mind and reality, creation and spiritual journeys, all portrayed with astonishing poetry.

I checked all the possible references for this record and, untimely classic or not, they’re all just NOT there. Not by a long shot. The ‘Pink Floyd meets Tiamat’ summary can give you good hints, the band even performed Gaia / Comfortably Numb cover (just like that) in 2012 but that would be merely the ‘inspiration source’ kind of thing (the artwork for ‘The Endless River’ can also give you the idea what this album is about atmosphere-wise). The only REAL reference (something really similar as a whole) I can give you is Thence, another criminally underappreciated Finnish band, their debut consists of one 57 minutes song featuring a 5 minutes guitar/piano/sax/hammond/keyboards solo, just so you know.

The band had some sort of a release show for ‘Our Voices’ in Helsinki on October 1, 2016, having the album played in its entirety. Way into the autumn, the day was warm, calm and felt more like August, also being the last one before the cold arrived, a perfect setting for music like this. The venue was a small bar but the sound was unbelievable and all the feelings the record evoked before were there. Finally, there was not a single mistake made (!) in all those massively complex instrumental parts despite being played live the first time. A truly magical experience and one of the best shows I’ve attended.

‘Our Voices’ is an album for solitary silent reflection, for pondering over the innermost questions, an album of vast infinity and unknown but familiar frontiers, of perfect clarity and peace of mind, the album of elusive flare from beyond the horizon. It is not about impact, it’s about subtlelty. It’s not about mundanity, it’s about transcendence. It’s one of the best records I’ve heard in my life and in the end of the day it is something beyond words so whether I say one or one thousand, it wouldn’t really matter. For only the music truly speaks.

I’ve reviewed and written about many underappreciated bands, but Throes of Dawn is extreme. The Finnish band has been active since the 90’s. Every album has showed musical growth and an increase in quality. “Our Voices Shall Remain” is their best yet, displaying a tasteful mix between metal aesthetics and progressive rock. It’s a true crossover offering; I hear influences as diverse as Pink Floyd and Dead Can Dance. There is also a solid dose of classic Finnish darkness.

The mix of ethereal progressive influences and Finnish metal reminds me a bit of “Am Universum” by Amorphis at times. Throes of Dawn is a way more emotional band, however. The lyrical themes are introspective and crushingly dark. This is an album filled with existential pain. A broad musical pallette and the lyrical topics creates a wonderful tradeoff.

The one downside of “Our Voices Shall Remain” is that it lacks intensity. It’s an atmospheric, emotional offering that offers nothing in terms of energy. I usually enjoy it as a full album. The full album factor is also reflected in the quality of the tracklist. Most of the songs on here are of similar quality. “We Used to Speak in Colours” and “Our Voices Shall Remain” has the strongest hooks, but the last two tracks deliver the most emotion.

Closing track “The Black Wreath of Mind” is my favorite song if I’m forced to choose one. It’s a 14 minute epic, driven by fantastic keyboard lines and plenty of other atmospheric instrumentation. It’s quite sleepy, but ends in a fantastic crescendo (“Breathing for the very first time”). I’m usually not crazy about really long songs, but the length of this one is truly warranted.

I’ve talked a lot about the songwriting and atmosphere. Let’s talk about the vocals and instrumentation. Henri Koivula’s vocals are big factor in why this album is so good. He has a calm, earnest voice with enough variation in pitch and melody to tackle the instrumentation on the album. There are interesting nods to the male vocals in newer Dead Can Dance songs like “Amnesia” and “Opium”.

Narrating this album requires some serious skill, because Throes of Dawn utilize many different music styles. The band layers things very well. Most instruments shine at one point or another, but the focus always seems to be the songwriting.. There are David Gilmour inspired guitar solo moments that I love in several places. “Lifelines” enter familiar Finnish dark, doomy rock depths. “Our Voices Shall Remain” has a super groovy bass line that immediately got stuck in my head.

The production is good as well, focusing on the atmosphere rather than sounding heavy. It plays to the band’s strengths. Throes of Dawn will never be an extreme metal band that benefits from sounding heavy, despite that they used to have black metal vocals in the past.

This is an album as sadly emotional as it is musically interesting. There are so many different things going on, and the band is in absolute control of the songcraft. “Our Voices Shall Remain” combines many things I like in one album. I can’t recommend it enough to fans of dark metal and rock music.

Originally written for deathdoom.com