Band:	Insomnium
Album:	Shadows Of The Dying Sun
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	April 25, 2014
A review by:	R'Vannith

Disc I
01. The Primeval Dark
02. While We Sleep
03. Revelation
04. Black Heart Rebellion
05. Lose To Night
06. Collapsing Words
07. The River
08. Ephemeral
09. The Promethean Song
10. Shadows Of The Dying Sun

Disc II
01. Out To The Sea
02. The Emergence
03. The Swarm
04. The Descent

With Insomnium no longer having the service of guitarist Ville Vänni and his replacement by Markus Vanhala, the lead guitarist of Omnium Gatherum, Shadows Of The Dying Sun presents the possibility of a merging of the titans, so to speak. However, their sixth full length studio effort is no less Insomnium in style and execution than what preceded it, which means we're granted yet another excellent album from this premier melodic death metal band.

No doubt with the line-up change, and this being the first full length since Vänni's departure, all ears will be keen to identify how much the Omnium Gatherum influence comes into play. Vanhala makes his presence clearly felt throughout the album, leaving his mark most indelibly with "Revelation," a piece of his own composition and with his distinctive style reigning supreme yet made one with the Insomnium sound. His performance throughout the record breathes fresh and energetic life into the band's catalogue, which is one of a rarely achieved consistency within the melodic death subgenre, but also one which hungers for a more remarkable change from album to album.

All attention will turn toward the invigorated song writing which usually emphasises melodically lush leads and high calibre yet subtly varied hooks, and so it does within Shadows Of The Dying Sun, but the true marvel behind this album, and like no Insomnium album before it, is the directing and outstanding drum work. Markus Hirvonen has always been at the heart of the band's impressionable sense of rhythm, but here he truly excels himself and Shadows Of The Dying Sun thrives, pulses and gels from his superbly expressed performance at the kit, guiding a razor sharp rhythm section. One need only listen to the title track to hear the very full percussion and how it gives the album its well situated foundations. In fact, from the first track to the last, the drums, as well as the backbone of bass, provide obviously solid grounds for the melodic riffs. The flawless production values enhance this greatly, allowing for one of the tightest of Insomnium's studio performances. Everything hinges off the clarity and precision of the drum work to spectacular effect.

An uplifting vibe prevails here, in comparison to the appropriately titled previous release One For Sorrow. Though not without a sense of the band's trademark atmospheric melancholia, the mood is moving in new and exciting ways. From the extremity of "Black Heart Rebellion" to the hell-for-leather pace preceding a soaring melody within "Collapsing Words," there are fresh nuances to the track-list for listeners to pick up and enjoy. The clean vocals make a welcome return, as they found such emotive placement in One For Sorrow, and here they are also used very effectively.

Though not quite as focused on their atmospheric side on this album, Insomnium have made a push for the distinctiveness of these tunes, and their efforts result in a more direct record with increased diversity and punch of melody writing. Consistency has always been this band's greatest strength, never endorsing a widely ranging sound and operating around their own well defined stylistic crux, and Shadows Of The Dying Sun maintains this quality.

There is a clear and certain efficiency in the way Insomnium write and perform melodic death metal, and this album ably demonstrates that in another well honed outing.