So a very early review of the new Insomnium album which is bound to leak any day now (it was apparently spinning on last.fm for a little while which is where I found this, no I found it):
"The music changed, but surprisingly not towards a doomy sound as we all suspected. They still keep their trademark atmospheric touch without a doubt, but the guitar patterns are not the same as on ATD, there are several songs which sound very aggressive and full of their heaviest (and fastest) riffs so far, think I even heard some blastbeats on Song of the Blackest Bird - it's a real killer, that one, and it's about 7:30 min. long. Other tracks like this are Only One Who Waits which reminds me more of oldschool In Flames or just the typical Gothenburg sound before they start using some of their melodic elements - the guitar basis here is almost pure Swedish worship, could be because of Daniel Antonsson of DT who mixed the effort. A slightly similar method is used on Unsung and even Every Hour Wounds, both are full-blooded headbangers and the first one is just the perfect choice for that appetizer they chose. But still there's no mistake that you're listening to Insomnium, no way.
To get back on the start, Inertia is an intro with Niilo's narratives at the end, Through the Shadows is a typical Insomnium opener but what surprised me is that (if you neglect the lyrics) it's one of the most positive-sounding tracks with a thrilling chorus featuring both growls and cleans similar to Where the Last Wave Broke, but I'm not sure if they used Jules for the cleans again despite it sounds like him. Then the fun stops here and those aforementioned monsters rush in with full force. And yeah, you'll hear the same great cleans on Unsung again.
Decoherence is a slightly "modern" (not in the bad sense) acoustic interlude, Lay the Ghost to Rest is the second track aside from Song of the Blackest Bird to clock in at almost 8 min., showing what skilled musicians can do when they're called Insomnium, haha. An atmospheric track with both growls and cleans, beautiful tunes and one of my favorite endings - in fact, that could easily be called your "doom" song, in a way. Regain the Fire brings the necessary contrast as a sign of light at the end of the tunnel with one of the most memorable and pleasant clean/growl duo choruses on the entire effort. Reminds me of another band's approach but I can't quite grasp it atm so maybe I'll get to it on the review. The ending is the title track, One for Sorrow, and once again it's sung in both vocal manners with kinda goth/doom-like verses before the chorus where Niilo sings on a firm guitar basis which gets its instrumental crescendo as it ends. A most worthy curtain call despite I suspect they'll include Weather the Storm in the final digipack package, but that's for Century Media to decide.
So, in several words, it's different, not so homogeneous and unified by one concrete theme in itself as Across the Dark, but it's their most surprising, refreshing and professional record to date (add a perfect production), at least in my ears. They refined their vocal lines and decided to put the guitarists to work at maximum, at the same time playing the infamous top-notch atmospheric melodeath with a great collaborative songwriting.
I'd hardly be able to give any scores (I really hate that, haha), but ever since the start they've only been improving with time. My champion was Across the Dark and I like the rest equally, but One for Sorrow could be their sound-defining record."
