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Insomnium - Anno 1696



8.1 | 516 votes |
Release date: 24 February 2023
Style: Melodic death metal

Owners:

187 have it
50 want it


Disc I
01. 1696
02. White Christ [feat. Sakis Tolis]
03. Godforsaken [feat. Johanna Kurkela]
04. Lilian
05. Starless Paths
06. The Witch Hunter
07. The Unrest
08. The Rapids

Disc II [Songs Of The Dusk] [Deluxe Edition bonus]
01. Flowers Of The Night
02. Stained In Red
03. Song Of The Dusk

The Best Melodeath / Extreme Power / Gothenburg Metal Album Of 2023
Top 20 albums of 2023: 11

Line-up
Niilo Sevänen - vocals, bass
Ville-Petri Friman - guitars
Jani Liimatainen - guitars, vocals
Markus Vanhala - guitars, vocals
Markus Hirvonen - drums

Additional musicians:
Athanasios "Sakis" Tolis - vocals
Johanna Kurkela - vocals
Coen Janssen - keyboards

Additional info
Released via Century Media Records

Mixed at Orgone Studios in Woburn, Bedforshire, England.
Mastered at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.

Staff review by
musclassia
Rating:
8.6
The last two Insomnium releases received adulatory reviews from self-proclaimed fanboys. I am not an Insomnium fanboy, but there is a longstanding tradition of Metal Storm reviewers enthusiastically waxing lyrical about their albums, and in this instance, I am happy to follow the example set by others.

Read more ››
published 23.02.2023 | Comments (19)

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Comments

Comments: 60   Visited by: 1115 users
03.11.2022 - 21:52
Rating: 9
Ruisdier
Fuck yes!
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03.11.2022 - 23:16
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Lilian is pretty epic for a four-and-a-half minute track. Very promising!
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04.11.2022 - 04:29
Rating: 9
Gothic Metalhead
Pro Introvert
The most wonderful time of the year. A new Insomnium album is announced
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04.11.2022 - 04:41
Rating: 8
tintinb
Haha, Sakis Tolis featured in a song called, "White Christ". That's apt.
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Leeches everywhere.
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06.11.2022 - 14:03
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Risto on 03.11.2022 at 23:16

Lilian is pretty epic for a four-and-a-half minute track. Very promising!

Video is even better
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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09.11.2022 - 12:17
Rating: 8
nonZero
The fact that there's 8 tracks on this album and that their average multi-track album runtime is around 54 mins, that leaves around 7 mins each for the 7 unreleased tracks.

Hopefully we should get some long songs on this release then
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09.11.2022 - 17:45
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by nonZero on 09.11.2022 at 12:17

The fact that there's 8 tracks on this album and that their average multi-track album runtime is around 54 mins, that leaves around 7 mins each for the 7 unreleased tracks.

Average track length is around 6:20 (full runtime is 50:26)
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23.02.2023 - 15:30
Rating: 7
MeatWolf
Not sure what to make of it so far. White Christ is obviously trash and waste of space but honestly, apart from Lilian and Unrest, everything else sounds quite directionless. Maybe bonus CD will change it.
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23.02.2023 - 20:10
Rating: 8
Anghellic67
This was the first album I was looking forward to this year and I'm glad I got to hear it on vinyl first. I agree that White Christ is a bit off but Godforsaken fixes the mood right after. My favorite was the last song though. Otherwise it's solid Insomnium album with no big ups or downs.
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23.02.2023 - 20:58
Ghost79
There worst album ever!
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23.02.2023 - 23:22
Rating: 9
EdenEcho
F***ing beautiful. Again.
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24.02.2023 - 08:01
Rating: 7
I am disappointed. Normally, every previous Insomnium album makes me listen it multiple times (throughout the months). But, this failed to create that urge. It seems that they tried new things but kept the ryhtmic and compositional structure the same with previous albums, making me feel like the album consists of 80% fillers.
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24.02.2023 - 14:29
Rating: 7
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
As usual there's some excellent songwriting here, the lyrics are great, the theme is great, and it's very well performed and executed, but musically I don't really enjoy this as much as many of their previous releases, it's along way off the level of Winter's Gate or Above The Weeping World for instance, but that's certainly not to say this is a bad release by any means, it might even grow on me in time but for now it just doesn't wow me, with perhaps the exception of "Lilian" and "1696" is which are highlights for me.
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24.02.2023 - 14:56
Rating: 8
Solid release. They're just a band that scratches an itch that not really any other band can.
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24.02.2023 - 17:24
Rating: 9
Gothic Metalhead
Pro Introvert
At first I thought Insomnium was running out of steam with Heart Like A Grave. I think its a great record but compared to Winter's Gate it's not as impactful. This album is up there with Winter's Gate to my ears. Each song sounds amazing and they each have beautiful melodies. How is it possible for a band to be that good like Insomnium? It's another album that adds to their already consistent discography
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24.02.2023 - 18:06
Rating: 8
chomskeet
Don't listen to MDM much these days, but these guys can really write a great hook. This is probably my favorite album of their recent material. I'd say Lilian and The Rapids are my favorite tracks
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24.02.2023 - 20:27
Rating: 9
tludmetal
Several listens and looks better than the previous effort. Past melodies and structures are there, but also new arrangements. I think is a grower album that requieres several listens for full enjoyment and new things absorption.
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25.02.2023 - 00:00
Rating: 8
24emd
Theory Snob
I start getting disinterested in MDM after listening to a ton of trash but then the new Insomnium drops and I remember they are the masters of the sound.
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25.02.2023 - 02:05
Rating: 7
Fred_P
"1696", "Lilian" and especially "Godforsaken" are pretty good tracks, the rest is alright.
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25.02.2023 - 03:30
Rating: 8
metalbrat
Godforsaken and Lilian are really good tracks. Still spinning the same. Have to get more of other tracks to give a final verdict. Sadly this time #its taking more time to sink into the whole album.
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In the beginning I was made of clay. Then I bit the apple and they changed me to metal 🤘
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25.02.2023 - 09:56
Rating: 9
Ruisdier
Starless Paths is insanely good
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25.02.2023 - 12:16
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Lilian seems are best song melodic melodic keys. This band has released so many albums, I lost somehow, I cant objective judge this, but I am not super inmpressed.
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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25.02.2023 - 17:29
Rating: 9
Written by Ruisdier on 25.02.2023 at 09:56

Starless Paths is insanely good

my favorite from the album so far!
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25.02.2023 - 17:31
Rating: 7
Nightmare^
Finally some good Insomnium again! I was left very dissapointed by the Heart Like a Grave and all the singles/EP that followed, but this is again some great songwriting from our beloved band.

However, not all in this album is top-shelf material unfortunately, that's why it gets a 7 from me. The first 2 songs and especially "White Christ" which is a disgrace and very out of place here are kind of weak moments.

Everything else from "Godforsaken" and onwards has the great songwriting trademark of Insomnium. Well done.


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25.02.2023 - 20:21
Rating: 8
Kosst Amojan
Heart Like a Grave was a solid album for me, their best after Winter's Gate, I guess they never get to top that! But this one is little lower on my list than those two, I would say in par with One for Sorrow for me. The beginning is a little weak, that White Christ stuff is really by far the worst on the album, sound more like something Sakis Tolis would made than Insomnium, but after that it started to sound as any good old Insomnium did! Godforsaken is the best song of album for me, but Starless Paths is just right after it!
All in all, a solid album, and a solid 8 from me!
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26.02.2023 - 01:50
Rating: 10
Litvin
This is gooood! My best of Insomnium so far, top one followed by the Winter's Gate.
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26.02.2023 - 02:48
Rating: 8
Until the End
The second half of 'Starless Paths' is the epitome of songwriting and musicianship. There's always that particular moment on every Insomnium album where you just know they've nailed it again. 'Starless Paths' is that moment.
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26.02.2023 - 08:11
Rating: 8
metalbrat
Final verdict: not impressed like their previous outings but still a great album. MDM still survives through them.
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In the beginning I was made of clay. Then I bit the apple and they changed me to metal 🤘
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27.02.2023 - 01:30
Rating: 8
gmorin
This album reconciles me with the band. After 15 playthroughs, I can affirm this is a solid effort that easily surpasses the horrible Argent Moon (destroyed in big part by Jani's clean singing) and the very uncohesive Heart Like A Grave, which had its moments to be sure, but never felt more than a collection of songs. Anno 1696 hearkens back to early Insomnium vibes, integrates some amazing moments reminiscing of the great Winter's Gate and include some off-the-beaten-path instances like the beautiful collab with Johanna Kurkela. Solid effort, but short of the greats like Above The Weeping World, Across the Dark and One For Sorrow.

Greats: Godforsaken, The Rapids
Meh: The Unrest (can clearly hear Jani's singing), White Christ.

A solid 8, tempted to bump it to 8.5, depending on how the album stands the test of time.
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Germain Morin
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27.02.2023 - 08:01
Rating: 8
DarkWingedSoul
Do i hear Jani singing there???
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