Review of Gladenfold - In Somno

Gladenfold is a unique act out of Finland that plays an enticing mix of modern metal styles. The band incorporates their styles rather seamlessly, so it is difficult to say exactly what the basis of their sound is, however, there are elements of power/speed metal, melodeath, thrash, Viking, folk, and black metal all jostling for position. If you can imagine a polka-free Finntroll, Wintersun, and maybe some Into Eternity getting tossed into a blender, the frothy beverage would taste a lot like Gladenfold.

Again, it is hard to say one sound prevails over the rest, the majority of In Somno draws its inspiration from the power/speed side of the spectrum with its peppy, almost happy melodies and high level of energy although there is a lot of added thickness via fast, heavy drumming and the inclusion of harsh, raspy vocals. The vocals are basically split right down the middle, mixing the above mentioned harsh vocals with nice mid-range cleans that mercifully take it easy on the falsetto and vibrato. The band’s lead work is often speedy and technically impressive, but becomes downright staggering considering a few of the members neither owned nor played instruments when the idea of starting a band first came up in 2003. The production is above average in terms of clarity and the overall mix sounds really nice, although there could be a little more bass presence and a fuller guitar tone.

Considering this is a self-released EP after only two demos, In Somno is quite an impressive endeavor. Hell, this is a damn good release regardless of label affiliation. However, I feel that the proper push from a label and the bigger recording budget could make this above average band a great band. And just so you know, this is limited to 500 digipack copies, so you better get on the ball if you don’t want to shell out a small fortune for this in the future.

Release Details

Gladenfold

In Somno

Comments

Related