Maybe it’s me, but it seems like way longer than three years since Insomnium dropped Anno 1696 on us. With the odd feeling I’ve gone without new material from these lords of Finnish sadboi doom for so long, and with the impending descent into winter just around the corner, Netherworlds is landing at the perfect time. For their 10th album, Insomnium promised an expanded sonic palette. I’ve heard that many a time from established bands only to end up being served the same soup and nuts as always. So what does Netherworlds actually offer on the morose menu? Well, the classic Insomnium sound and style is intact, but the band pushes their established sound into a few new spaces as promised, and brings along a few dear friends to help them pull it all off. Are you intrigued yet? If not, look at that awesome cover art!
After a dramatic and table-setting intro, the classic Insomnium arrives with “Shadowlands,” and all the things you love about the band are brightly displayed. It’s that dead puppy under the Christmas tree mood you expect from Finnish melodoom, with plenty of weepy harmonies and twinkling keyboards. Niilo Sevänen’s hoarse death croaks are as solid as ever, and he’s supported by effective clean vocals that play well against his rasping during the big, emotive chorus. There’s even a trace of Omnium Gatherum in the guitar work to add color. That Omnium Gatherum influence bleeds into follow-up “Remembrance,” and it actually adds to the flavor. This one strikes the ideal balance between aggression and dour mood, almost approaching hard rock at points without losing the frowning funerariums. The big stuff arrives with album centerpiece “The Hour Grows Late,” where Insomnium go all in on embellishing their sound in interesting ways. It starts soft and moody as most Insomsongs do, but it ramps up into an aggressive piece that keeps shifting and evolving from hard to soft, folky and back. Blackened trems rise and fall along the way, and then there’s this big melodic swell as powerful clean vocals erupt that sound just like Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis. That’s because it fucking is Tomi! Soon you’re treated to extra raw death vocals that feel way outside Niilo’s comfort zone. These are delivered by fellow AmorphisER Tomi Koivusaari himself, giving the song a Tales of the Thousand Lakes vibe. From there, things go wonky as keyboards erupt with crazy 70s prog insanity with sound effects from 70s Sci-Fi cinema. That’s because Tomi also brought along Santeri Kallio to man the keys. It’s a brilliant mess and essentially a new Finnish national anthem.
After the wild ride Insomnium take you through with their Amorpfriends, they opt to recalibrate your brain with urgent, no-BS burner “Arch in the Sky,” which I loved at first exposure. This may be the only Insomnium tune to ever grace my lifting and cardio playlists because it’s hot fire, and when Niilo roars “I will never die alone,” you feel it deep in your girded loins. The album runs from strength to strength, with every track hitting home and delivering a high-quality dose of Findoom. Closer “Journey’s End” is an ultra-moody cut that toys with a kind of light funeral doom, and there are fleeting moments here that feel like they belong on Warning’s immortal Watching from a Distance. That’s something you didn’t see coming, right? At just under 54 minutes, there’s no song here I can really take issue with, and there’s a shocking absence of bloat as well. The runtime glides by and the material keeps you invested throughout.
Insomnium have been a known quantity for some time, and the members all know how to mine the melodoom genre for all it’s worth. While Niilo will never be my favorite death vocalist, he suits the material and is as solid as ever. The three-pronged guitar attack by Ville-Petri Friman, Markus Vanhala, and new slinger Tomy Laisto do their job well and litter the album with haunting harmonies and downtrodden trills, but they never forget to smash bones with aggressive riffs when the time comes. Swallow the Sun’s Aleksi Munter is on board to provide keyboard expertise, making this even more of a finished product of Finland. Talent resides in every corner, but it’s the extra impactful songcraft that takes Netherlands to a level above Anno 1696, which I also loved plenty.
Netherworlds is the best Insomnium album since Winter’s Gate, and it even rivals that great work. I expected something good here, since this band is reliable as 10-year-old hobo wine, but I wasn’t expecting it to hit this hard and this consistently. Insomnium defy time, tides, and trends once more, and this time they dropped a potential Album o’ the Year. Visit Netherworlds and bring a friend (or fiend).
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Century Media
Websites: insomnium.net | facebook.com/insomniumofficial | instagram.com/insomniumofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 16th, 2026
The post Insomnium – Netherworlds Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
