Insomnium Album: “Since the Day All Came Down”

I love all types of metal. Death metal, black metal, metalcore, power metal, thrash metal, you name it. But I've started sniffing out the more obscure sub-genres such as melodic death metal and black death metal. Insomnium was my big thrust into melodic death metal and I'm absolutely loving it.

This CD had a bit more melody than I was expecting, but after listening to it a couple times, I realize they did an excellent job. I thought it would be tough for me to get away from the pure death/thrash metal that I've been listening to (Arsis, At The Gates, Demiricous), but the constant pounding of the drums and guitars keeps your head banging and the melodies in between keep your toes tapping. Some of the songs seem to have a sort of break in the middle of the song with a melodic breakdown of soft drums and soothing guitar work, then the pounding starts again and doesn't let up until the end.

The beginning of this CD ("Nocturne" leading into "The Day It All Came Down") gave me chills because the opening gets you in a sort of daze and relaxes you a bit, then "The Day It All Came Down" starts with a constant guitar with steady drums and eventually leads to the scream of frontman Niilo Sevänen. Once you reach this point, the CD doesn't let go until the end.

Another stand out track is "Daughter of The Moon". While listening to this track, I get a mixed feeling of an almost "downer" song but with brutal pounding of guitars. This creates a strange mix of positive and negative energies which makes for a different feeling in anyone who listens to it.

This CD is difficult to explain because you really have to feel it. It's not one that you just pop in and bang your head (nothing wrong with that though) but brings out all different emotions. Just think of sadness, anger, depression, passion, hope, and love rolled into one big ball of musical goodness.

Don't be scared of the "melody" part, because I've noticed all that does is relax you so it can slap you in the face with thick riffs and relentless drums. If you're into melodic death metal (or are interested in it), buy this CD. I will be watching these guys in the future and cannot wait to see what else they produce.

All I can say is, for a band I had never heard of, this is a truly tremendous effort. If you like the Dark Tranquillity style of melodic death metal, you should like this. A lot of mellow and acoustic breakdowns seperate this from the more agressive Dark Tranquillity approach, but, similar in style nonetheless. A wonderful album containg a bit of a morose feel throughout. A great surprise that I had to add to my top 15 list of 2004!

Although Insomnium gained some attention with this 2004 release, "Since the Day All Came Down" remained relatively overlooked, which is a bit of a shame since from the haunting opening piano piece 'Nocture' to the very last track, Insomnium have come through with a hard hitting, great sounding second album.

This is metal with passion, metal with anger, metal with beauty. What really hooked me on this album is the emotional power and range of the music. Many bands have come along that can arrange progressive metal, but relatively few have had Insomnium's ability to make you really FEEL those heavy and light transitions like they do.

Some of the songs on the album are somewhat reminiscent of Opeth and others, especially in how Insomnium use layered guitars with longer slower notes in the background (an Opeth staple) and also transitions from heavy to light and back. But make no mistake, Insomnium carry it off perfectly, while adding a welcome aggressive edge. An example of where Insomnium begin to set themselves apart from the crowd is on the song 'Disengagement.' The beginning of this song is nothing short of amazing, and it highlights how Insomnium use some rather unique, almost tribal drumming at times.

When I first heard this album, I absolutely loved it, and wrote a raving, drunken rant of a review to back up these feelings. A more sober second look reveals that yes, the album is very good, but just don't expect a whole lot of innovation. Insomnium fits very well within the molds formed by bands such as In Flames and Opeth. But give Insomnium full credit: "Since the Day..." ranks up there with the very best of the genre.

At first listen,not terribly much. At second,a burning spark. At third,my neck was hurting from all the violent head-banging. Yes,it did take a few listens but it grew. If you listen to their first masterpiece,the bar is set pretty high. The transition between these albums is similar to speeding at 124 mph for 55 minutes (Length of the previous) the then instantly dropping to 76. Pretty quick,but not the same.

Most of the tracks start out with these beautiful progressive openings,then pick up with accelerative moments and eventually fade out through gentle melodies...outstanding. The best way for you to know exactly what I'm talking about is to listen to: "Shades of Deep Green" from In The Halls. It's the perfect example and can give you an idea as to what pace INSOMNIUM were using for this gem.

Different speed,but the tradition of doomish,artistic lyrics and progressing melodies is definitely there. I f*cking love these guys. Astonishing work. Viva Finlandia!!!!!

Insomnium are an interesting band. They are undeniably melodic death metal, but they ultimately seem more comparable to Opeth than anybody. "Since The Day It All Came Down" is an epic mixture of powerful, emotive riffs, accompanied by frequent haunting acoustic interludes. The album's lyrical content is based loosely around a story of a boy who has lost his mother to the reaper, and about him dealing with his pain. The purpose of the instrumental work here is to express that pain. The music on offer here isn't the most technical in the world, so it largely relies on its crushing - yet melodic - power to impress us. It must be said that this is managed remarkably well. The guitars here are rolling walls of melancholic sound, portraying a definite doom metal influence in places. Occassionally we're treated to a faster burst, always exhilirating considering the drummer's commendable cotrol of the double bass peddle. Special regards to the vocalicst, Niilo Sevansen, as well, 'cause as a death metal vocalist he ranks up there with Mikael Akerfeldt as one of the best. It isn't perfect - the absence of guitar solos is notable and some of the acoustic interludes can tend to drag on, somewhat similarly to Opeth's "Ghost Reveries". However "Since The Day..." undobtedly achieves what it set out to do, and then some. Here's regards to some of Finland's finest.