Insomnium - Across The Dark

If you were to expect anything new from Insomnium's latest album Across the Dark then it would be just the cover art and the lyrics. Save the music, everything else is different in the new album. On hitting the play button you will hear that same melodic leads with those same doom-ish riffs in an equally same despondent atmosphere that you have come across in all their previous albums. When you realise a band like Insomnium, a band that brought along fresh wave of change in the melo-death scene with their fluid melodies are coming out with a new feature you are bound to expect something new in their music. But alas, Across The Dark is no such proof of such statement.

Agreed that the melodies in the new album are best described mercurial and the songwriting has considerably improved, the music more or less feels like an extension of their last album Above The Weeping The World. The only few changes one notices are the addition of synth sounds, courtesy of Aleski Munter of Swallow The Sun that are fused in with most of the tracks to compensate the removal of layers of melodic leads. As a result the impact of the melodies are more forthright and consequently more enjoyable. The other change being inclusion of clean vocals, which have been incorporated into a smattering of songs. Only song where the clean singing makes a difference is in the epic Lay of Autumn, but over there as well it lasts for only a brief period.

The only thing that would appeal to fans would be the fact that its predictable. They can always look to expect some similar elements from their last albums. Some of the tracks that make a memorable listening experience would be fast wavering Into The Woods and Against The Hues. The melancholy of the band is most profoundly felt in Weighed Down By Sorrow. Instrumentally the guys in Insomnium have fared better than before. The bassline in Weighted Down with Sorrow is quite commendable.

Overall listening to Across The Dark is a worthwhile experience. The missing of a standout track like Killjoy is quite disappointing, though Down With Sun comes close to it. More disappointing is the fact that same music is played in the album, in fact the same type of music has been playing on since their debut album. This stereotyped music pretty much begins to bore you as its impact can hardly be said to be consequential. And though they could have incorporated a bit more of clean vocals, for reason I know not they refrained from doing so that only adds to my frustration of my Insomnium have not taken the music to the next level as many of us expected so. After this non-essential venture, I am hoping Insomnium will come up with something ''new'' in their next production.