While it is still apparent that the band has listened to old In Flames and Opeth ad infinitum, it seems that, on Above the Weeping World, they have finally been able to fully digest these influences and present the listener with their own sound.

Opening track “The Gale” sets the tone for the album immediately, creating a sad, depressing, yet powerfully hopeful atmosphere that only bands from Finland seem to possess. Starting to the sound of rain, the track slowly adds layers of piano and guitar melodies, until finally the entire band explodes into a truly nerve-tickling, guitar-driven passage.

After this instrumental intro, the album’s second track, “Mortal Share” provides an appropriately energetic introduction to the guttural vocals of bassist Nilo Sevanen. Sevanen, who also pens most of the band’s lyrics, isn’t the most versatile vocalist, but he more than makes up for the lack of variety with the clarity of his growls. Furthermore, his bleak lyrics are surprisingly well-written and match the intensity and atmosphere of the music perfectly.

Meanwhile, guitarists Ville Friman and Ville Vanni provide the constant subtext to Sevanen’s lyrics. Melodies and harmonies abound, complementing the words in a way that gives them added emotional depth. Tracks such as “Drawn to Black” benefit greatly from the interplay of clean guitar melodies and Sevanen’s growls, creating moments with just the right mixture of anger and sadness that are quickly becoming one of the band’s trademarks. In a way, the guitar work on Above the Weeping World functions as the secondary, if not the primary, vocalist on the album.

The pacing of the album should also be complimented. While Since The Day It All Came Down featured a few songs that tended to drag on a bit, Above the Weeping World features a more streamlined approach to songwriting that helps to separate Insomnium from one of their primary influences: Opeth. There is still plenty of clean guitar strumming to be found on the album, yet one must be more attentive in order to find it.

For instance, the fourth track on the album, “Change of Heart,” at only four minutes and 30 seconds, is far from a long song, yet it moves seamlessly from clean guitar driven sections to more distortion heavy passages within that limited time.

With Above the Weeping World, Insomnium have finally discovered their true identity as a band and the result is nothing short of breathtaking. In a genre that is increasingly falling prey to overexposure and is being flooded with copy-cats and clones, it’s uplifting to find a young band making melodic death metal sound refreshing and unique.

Basically, Insomnium have not reinvented the wheel with this release, but what they do sounds so genuine and convincing one can’t help but feel the enthusiasm behind this record. Above the Weeping World is a text-book example of what separates a good album from an amazing album: the details. It’s the details, not the choice of genre, that make every moment of Above the Weeping World, from the opening of the “The Gale,” till the end of the 10-minute closer “In the Groves of Death,” sound original yet familiar. Fans of the current American melodic metal scene shouldn’t pass this up. It’s time they heard melodic death metal done right.

manningg1@lasalle.edu