In Mourning - The Immortal - review
In Mourning - The Immortal - review
Tracklist
01. The Immortal02. Silver Crescent
03. Song Of The Cranes
04. As Long As The Twilight Stays
05. The Sojourner
06. Moonless Sky
07. Staghorn
08. North Star
09. The Hounding
A review by
musclassia September 15, 2025
Put as succinctly as possible, In Mourning’s is probably best categorized as ‘progressive melodeath’; while they don’t clearly resemble either the Gothenburg or melancholic Finnish takes on melodeath, there is a clear balance between melody and relative harshness, all tied together with proggy songwriting that exhibits hints of acts such as Opeth, Amorphis and Ghost Brigade. The same still somewhat applies to this latest album, but In Mourning are pushing both ends of their musical range, in sometimes quite surprising fashion.
On the one hand, the album builds upon the advanced clean vocal role on The Bleeding Veil by featuring scene-stealing clean-sung choruses or pivotal sections in almost every track. Conversely, The Immortal no longer confines itself to melodeath; while the clean vocal direction wasn’t shocking after the preceding album, I’m not sure any release from the band before this one would have hinted at such a prominent turn towards black metal, which occurs across several tracks (“As Long As The Twilight Stays”, “Staghorn”, “The Hounding”). It’s a bold new step for the group, and one that pays off very nicely on the record.
After a fairly redundant minute-long introductory title track, the album gets going properly with “Silver Crescent”, and the low-end syncopated riffing intrinsically feels familiar, while subsequent tremolo riffs, captivating guitar melodies and shredding soloing are very recognizable for the group. Conversely, the doomy clean-sung chorus is haunting and gazing in a way that departs from the band’s typical chorus, particularly as the vocal melody ascends to its resolution. It’s an indicator that In Mourning are here with big plans; the next track, “Song Of The Cranes” is more conventional for the group, but the contrast of the slick cymbal rhythm and dainty vocals in its chorus versus flurries of blasting death metal later nicely distinguishes the track within the wider discography of the group.
“Song Of The Cranes” has one feature shared with the immediately following “As Long As The Twilight Stays”, in that both have late-song quiet lulls that lead into big, stirring melodic finales. Otherwise, however, the two clearly diverge, with “As Long As The Twilight Stays” offering the first exposure to the band’s black metal experimentation. It takes a while to come, as the opening minutes are generally slower and melancholic, but around the 3-minute mark, the tremolo riffing that the band have utilized before suddenly takes on a more blackened tonality, while backed up by rolling double bass drumming. It’s still very melodic blackened metal, and the soloing that it sandwiches provides a dash of whiplash, but the meloblack riffs here offer a refreshing change of pace, particularly when they escalate into blasting as the song approaches that aforementioned late-track lull.
More substantial and darker black metal is encountered later on, particularly with “Staghorn”; right from the off, the chords are comparatively sinister, and the drumbeats initially give a ‘ride to frozen battle’ feel. Still, these detours are commendably woven into In Mourning’s existing musical framework, as they slide syncopated melodeath riffs in between the blasts and bass drum rolls, and imperceptibly shift from frigid extremity to lush clean-sung richness. Eight-minute closer “The Hounding” also navigates the balancing act between triumphant blasting meloblack riffs, grisly Åkerfeldt-esque growls, ominous yet dazzling solos, classic Opeth-tinged In Mourning riffs, and gloomy, resonant clean vocal passages. “The Hounding” may be one of the more ambitious songs from the band to date (even factoring in their very proggy early years in the Monolith era).
There’s a couple of other minor surprises, such as the alt-metal vibes of moments in “The Sojourner”, but “North Star” will feel warm and familiar to many. As much as I’ve just focused on the black metal, I feel like the greatest strengths of The Immortal are its clean vocal segments, which consistently capture one’s attention (the chorus of “The Sojourner” is especially impassioned), as well as some really compelling lead guitar melodies and solos; “North Star” has a particularly enjoyable solo, while the guitar leads in the concluding moments of “As Long As The Twilight Stays” are very stirring.
For the longest time, In Mourning have been a band that I've been able to rely upon to produce very solid albums, even if none of them ever threaten to rank among my all-time favourites; to that end, The Immortal is in line with expectations, but I do feel remarkably impressed across my early listens of the record in a way that I wasn’t with the previous few that came before it. I really enjoy the elements that have been added to their sound here, and how well they’ve been integrated alongside compelling interpretations of their existing strengths, and I expect with time that this will be considered a highlight of a consistently great discography.
Written on 15.09.2025 by
Written on 15.09.2025 by
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Great review. mirrors my feelings about the album very well. If it weren't for the captivating clean vocals and varied guitar playing, the album would have felt like run of the mill prog metal
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Posts: 25  |
Posts: 25
Agree with the review. This is my 2025 AOTY . Great production on this album too.
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