Insomnium releases one of the best albums of the year in Anno 1696

Insomnium - Anno 1696

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Finland that recently released a new album titled “Anno 1696”. It’s a concept album about the Torsåker witch trials.

It’s been a while since I got hooked on an Insomnium record, and I believe I completely skipped out on 2019’s “Heart like a Grave” as I was busy listening to other bands. With this record, Insomnium remind me why I love the band, and why I love Finnish metal. But first we have to introduce the three main ingredients of this record.

Melodic death metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that combines the aggressive and fast-paced instrumentation of death metal with melodic and harmonised guitar riffs, often influenced by traditional Scandinavian folk music. The genre emerged in the 1990s in Sweden and quickly gained popularity in the metal scene.

The Finnish metal scene is known for its unique and diverse range of subgenres, including melodic death metal, black metal, doom metal, and folk metal. Finnish metal bands have gained international recognition for their innovative and experimental approach to metal music, often incorporating elements of Finnish folklore, mythology, and nature into their lyrics and instrumentation.

The Torsåker witch trials were a series of witch trials that took place in the village of Torsåker, Sweden in the late 17th century. The trials began in 1675 and continued until 1676, resulting in the execution of 71 people, most of whom were women. The trials were marked by a fervor of accusations and confessions, which were often obtained through torture. The accused were accused of practicing witchcraft, consorting with the devil, and causing illness and death in the community.

Now that we have the ingredients to the album, it takes the craftsmanship of Insomnium, mainly Niilo Sevänen (vocalist/bassist), to conjure up a short story based on this tragic part of history.

I won't go into detail about the entirety of the album, but I have to mention my favourite track: Godforsaken.

The track features the ethereal vocals of Johanna Kurkela. It's a perfect song; it has emotive lyrics, with a vocal delivery complementing it, alongside a most welcome high pace of both the guitars and the drums. It also uses the classic Insomnium formula that I love, where there's a whole climactic section at the end where the song finishes on an uplifting tangent, yet bittersweet because of the theme of the song, and of the whole album. Truly, a masterpiece.

The rest of the album maintains the theme and it's been an almost daily listen for me.