Insomnium – Ephemeral

Melodious Aggression

Since the dawn of death metal, Finland’s scene has always been relatively underrated. Being nowhere near as recognized as their Swedish or American peers, Finland has always had its own brand of death metal to offer, and it was here that the band Insomnium formed. Characterized by their harmonious take on death metal, the band combines harsh sounds with placid arrangement of notes that provide a good atmosphere and beauty. With a handful of studio works to their name, the band has managed to tour with legendary acts such as Enslaved, Katatonia and Satyricon. Recently, the band offered their latest work, an four-song EP titled Ephemeral.

Given the high quality of the songs, the biggest disappointment of this release is that the release is unjustifiably short. The first track, the title track, is the best song on Ephemeral, as it provides the most substance. The band pushes the boundaries by mixing well-orchestrated leads with aggressive riffs and ominous shouts. The riffs are effective, creative and well thought out. There are also drum and vocal use on this track, unlike the other three tracks.

That’s not to say that the other three tracks are terrible in any way, however. Quite the contrary– they are astonishing and beautiful. Each one is composed with placid synthesizer playing alongside single-note acoustic guitar, presumably finger picked. The music is well-arranged, and similar to classical music played on guitar. With these three tracks, it is evident that Insomnium’s guitarists’ probably have training in music theory. The problem is that they are random. They are short and could easily be combined to form one song, and calm triple instrumentals after a distorted guitar track seem so awkward and out of place in a context of a release.

In summary, Insomnium’s latest EP is worth checking out and buying. They are undoubtedly talented musicians who keep death metal fresh and alive. There’s not much to complain about musically speaking either, as most of the problems lie with song length and positioning. As such, it comes highly recommended to all music lovers.