It doesn’t happen very often that band with a sound as instantly recognizable as Insomnium manages to surprise me whilst sounding like no one but themselves. ‘Netherworlds’ features a similar surprisingly dreamy melodic death metal sound with subtle Scandinavian folk touches as their other albums, though with maybe less space for doom metal influences than on their early work. Insomnium have always been songwriters in a field that mainly consists of riff writers, but the Finns outdo themselves here with a stronger melodic focus and an increased sense of atmosphere. ‘Netherworlds’ is one of the best Insomnium albums thus far.

None of the elements on ‘Netherworlds’ are something Insomnium has never done before, but the way they are balanced is a little different than on most prior albums. Many of the verses are dominated by clean guitars with a powerful rhythmic backing, giving some of the songs an almost gothic rock vibe, but not quite. Also, the sweeping, haunting guitar melodies that have always been a part of Insomnium’s sound are allowed to occupy even more space than usual. There are riff-based songs, but fortunately, Insomnium’s three guitarists realize their instruments can do more than just that.

Maybe the arrival of guitarist Tomy Laisto has something to do with the shifting balance, but it sounds very close to the melancholy that has always characterized the songwriting of his fellow guitarist Ville Friman, whose contributions were quite limited on ‘Heart Like a Grave’ (2019) and ‘Anno 1696‘ (2023). Insomnium also seems to get even more mileage out of having clean singers with fairly different voices here – Laisto, Friman, and fellow guitarist Markus Vanhala all sing clean, and there’s a prominent guest appearance – though Niilo Sevänen’s surprisingly varied, emotional growl is still the most prominent voice.

Stand-out tracks include the eight-minute epic ‘The Hour Grows Late’, which features half of Amorphis – Tomi Joutsen’s croon comes at exactly the right moment – as well as the grandiose and gorgeously melodic ‘Arch in the Sky’, and the ominous closer ‘Journey’s End’. ‘The Banished’ contains the most aggressive riff work on the album, though not at the expense of the grand, melancholic melodies, while the reasonably riffy ‘Remembrance’ and the expertly-constructed ‘Gleam in the Black’ are the highlights of the more traditional Insomnium fare. ‘Shadowlife’ is an interesting opener, because it isn’t quite as immediate as openers typically are.

Being a metal band with a clearly defined style – and one that influenced multiple younger bands to boot – can be quite the interesting journey. Instead of knowing what works and doing exactly that every time, Insomnium always seems ambitious enough to see what else they can do with the elements at their disposal. However, even within that context, ‘Netherworlds’ was a pleasant surprise to me. This is what a confident band with multiple highly skilled songwriters can do if they are not satisfied to rest on their laurels. Every second of ‘Netherworlds’ is impressive if you let the cold atmosphere carry you away.

Recommended tracks: ‘Gleam in the Black’, ‘Arch in the Sky’, ‘The Hour Grows Late’