Metal Storm logo
Insomnium - In The Halls Of Awaiting



8.3 | 549 votes |
Release date: 2002
Style: Melodic death metal

Owners:

552 have it
57 want it
1 trades it


01. Ill-Starred Son
02. Song Of The Storm
03. Medeia
04. Dying Chant
05. The Elder
06. Black Waters
07. Shades Of Deep Green
08. The Bitter End
09. Journey Unknown
10. In The Halls Of Awaiting

Guest review by
Milena
Rating:
9.6
Insomnium fans have it easy. Not only does their band manage to excel with every subsequent release, they also had it all together from the very start. All the brilliance of their later records is not merely hinted in their debut, it is fully carried out.

For starters - have we heard this before? Of course. A majority of the songs on the album have a structure similar to one that made Dark Tranquillity famous back in mid-90s: make the verses brutal, fire a myriad with death metal riffs with a strong emphasis on melody between them and complete it with very technical drumming and nifty acoustic passages. But this formula is like basic cookie dough and a good cook can improve it in various ways to make it spark interest and be different from the starting product. In The Halls Of Awaiting is set apart from similar releases by the mood of the melodies, which are always intense and in the pitch black part of the emotion spectrum. Think somewhere between Sentenced and modern age Amorphis - refined anguish meets experience and playful imagination. Ville Friman surely deserves a ten for his riffing on this effort, and so do Hirvonen and Sevänen for underlining it with awesome rhythm. Niilo Sevänen's also responsible for delivering ferocious growls and haunting whispers.

Read more ››
published 23.09.2011 | Comments (16)

Found in 18 lists
Top lists



Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 863 users
06.10.2010 - 15:51
<O>!<O>
Account deleted
Very good album, not a single bad song...abundance of catchy, early In Flames-inspired riffs and great acoustic interludes in between...the production is a bit on the down side, otherwise I would have rated it higher. Nonetheless, a worthy release...
Loading...
15.01.2012 - 19:21
JohnDoe
Account deleted
Great album, a very pleasant surprise for me; one of the best albums I've heard lately.
Loading...
20.08.2014 - 21:31
Rating: 8
Dr. Strawberry
I didn't like this before, now I knew that because I didn't really sit down quietly to appreciate this album...
listen to the guitars' riffs...shit...really amazing. An album that very easy to be overlooked. The best album of Insomnium, second track is the only weakest, the rest are very good especially Black Water is the best.
Loading...
10.03.2016 - 22:53
Rating: 9
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Very raw compared to the rest of their stuff but damn, almost every track stands out which can't be said for any other album they've done.
----
pewpew.. gotcha
Loading...
13.10.2019 - 20:38
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Its opening album, I liked then, I like now, The Elder is one of their best songs ever made IMO and here 2, 6 and 9 are also good one, great own style melodic death metal , maybe not so touring 300 day as dark tranquility , agresive as at the gates, but its Finlands best band in a genre millions times better as Omnium Gatherum and Mors Principium Est
Maybe ETOS stands out but they sound diferent, same as Kalmah
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
13.04.2020 - 22:15
Rating: 7
Redel
Moderator
Written by [user id=248801] on 13.04.2020 at 20:28

I got into Insomnium via their later work and only recently gave this a spin. I enjoyed parts of it and the album definitely has an identity of sorts. And I love the acoustic parts and the keyboard breaks!

But the production is not that great and there's a lack of variation and creativity in the songwriting and general sound overall, not their best album by any means IMO.

The title track is excellent, but many other tracks here are not, imo.
Loading...
22.09.2022 - 07:56
Rating: 7
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
This is an Impressive debut, not great, but a decent enough start for a band that has become a fully established household name in melodic death metal. Their sound has obviously matured since this debut, and the production certainly had been improved on since aswel, where here it was less refined than it is now.

Here you also have the first taste in their epic melodious riffing, and majestic soundscapes. The songwriting is also pretty solid stuff overall, but has also been much improved on in later releases.
Loading...

Hits total: 16163 | This month: 28