Let’s get one thing straight: Insomnium is one of the most universally agreed upon melo death bands. Across their discography, Insomnium have blended traditional melo death conventions with melancholic doom metal atmospheres and furious, frostbitten black metal passages, crafting their own sound right from their early demos back in the late 90’s. Everything the band has explored in their discography seems to accumulate with Winter’s Gate, the band’s most ambitious release thus far, and one that already stands out in not just among their best work, but the greater, ever-expanding genre they’re rooted in.
I may come across fanboyish with Insomnium, but it’s with good intention: they produce quality music. As I love a band, I can easily recognize their missteps and mistakes made along the way, but ultimately accept them as they are, flaws and all. I can’t necessarily call out Insomnium too harshly, aside from “Ephemeral” possibly drifting too close to being an Omnium Gatherum track or even an album being weaker than the rest comparatively, but with Winter’s Gate it becomes difficult to hold back any fanboyisms, as the album is just that good. Winter’s Gate is a, 40-minute fury of melo death, serving as 
a climax to everything that Insomnium has explored so far. Fans will no doubt be happy with what the band has triumphantly captured, but those looking for a sonically pleasing and harmonious album that feels complete by its conclusion will be just as rewarded. Crafting something like Winter’s Gate was no doubt a courageous move on the band’s part, and unlike removing headphone jacks on your already successful line of smartphones, the band can only be applauded for how well this has been executed.
Winter’s Gate is based upon a short story written by bassist and vocalist Niilo Sevänen, of which it chronicles vikings and their journey to a fabled land, in which they choose to do so with the winter coming. With this story fueling the emphasis of the lyrics, it’s sufficient to say that the vocal approach taken by Niilo is much different than on prior records. One drawback to this could be that there aren’t any real moments where his vocals are given the chance to shine and stand out, but at the same time the focus is almost always on the entirety of the music. With the entire sound the band is producing being the focus, it’s understandable why the compositions feature instruments working so well together.
That must be emphasized going forward, however. As all the instruments work as a unit and forego any extensive solos or experimental sections, one might initially consider this a bad thing and a step backwards for the band. I’m surprised to be typing this, but it’s anything but a regressive move and only makes Winter’s Gate to be a stronger as a whole. Shadows Of The Dying Sun was perhaps the band’s most experimental release, covering everything from traditional melo death and black metal to powerful, melancholic ballad-esque songs. Winter’s Gate foregoes all of that in favor for a constantly progressive and unmerciful barrage of voracious melo death, akin to the fighting of the vikings.
Perhaps this is due to the superb mixing job by Dan Swanö, famed extreme metal musician of many different projects both in and out of the studio. From the moment the entire band joins in during the album’s first “movement” (It’s divided into seven parts overall, so you’re getting seven new tracks) it becomes obvious Swanö was the correct man for the job. Insomnium had revealed that they were listening to Crimson by Edge of Sanity, so with an album as such to influence this task, it seemed appropriate they would enlist the man whose work inspired them such. To put it bluntly, this album sounds like the Insomnium from Across the Dark listened to more black metal and took some production cues from Swedish death metal bands.
While the album is not short of any sonically perfect melo death moments, the moments that do impress are the quiet ones where the band’s dynamic lowers and they embrace a softer side. In particular, the first dip in dynamic on the opening moments “Part 2” and later on the piano and keyboard driven segments of “Part 5” truly sound like a piece of raw melancholy. Even when the low dynamic is broken and the doom-heavy guitars are coupled by roars possibly from the netherworld join the mix, one might even consider that Insomnium would be giving Swallow the Sun a run for their money in being a possibly superior melo-doom band. That’s saying something, as well, as Swallow the Sun are masters of their craft.
By its majestic and powerful conclusion, it becomes obvious that Winter’s Gate is the quintessential Insomnium album. In a year where heavy hitting bands are releasing albums left and right, none hits harder that this one. I cannot recommend Winter’s Gate enough to every fan of metal, and everyone who has even given Insomnium the time of day before should giving them their undivided attention with this release. For anyone who can appreciate beauty, brutality, melancholy, and the are of all of it, Winter’s Gate is a jaw-dropping experience from start to finish that becomes more rewarding with each passing listen.
You can stream Winter’s Gate in its entirety right below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5nTwswOEw[/youtube]
