Insomnium’s 2016 outing, Winter’s Gate, saw some mixed reviews upon release. Sure, a few publications praised its accomplishments as a single forty-minute conceptual suite, yet others were less enthusiastic about the melodic death metal troupe’s changes in structure and style. For better or worse, their follow-up, Heart Like a Grave, will likely land in the same place for many listeners. That said, it commonly outdoes its predecessor due to some truly gorgeous and devastating passages, as well as a more effective balance of memorably light and dark moments.
Heart Like a Grave sees longtime touring member Jani Liimatainen (ex-Sonata Arctica) officially joining the Insomnium camp to help fellow guitarists Ville Friman and Markus Vanhala shoulder the compositional weight. Together, they aimed to make Heart Like a Grave “an epic tour de force of Finnish melancholy, drawing inspiration from some of the bleakest tales, lyrics, and poems of the north.” For the most part, the quintet succeeds in that goal, resulting in an enticingly symbiotic relationship between symphonic fragility and straightforward fury.
Heart Like a Grave satisfies on all fronts, combining many robust bits of heavenly despair and unrestrained outrage into some of the most awe-inspiring, multifaceted, and engrossing tracks of Insomnium’s career. While it’s not meant as another lone composition, the sequence flows well enough to work as a straight-through marathon, too. If you’re a fan of its predecessors—or just like the genre as a whole—Heart Like a Grave is pretty much essential listening.
