Insomnium - Weighted Down With Sorrow

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland, that play songs about sorrow, death, and loss. They also incorporate symphonic elements into their sound. The past years, their melodies have taken much more melancholic turn and the sound is overall much darker. Biography Insomnium began to take shape during the bleak spring of 1997. In a quiet town of Joensuu, located in the easternmost part of Finland, four young men were forming a fierce metal band. From the beginning it was clear that this band would make music that was brutal and yet melodic, full of contrasts and changing atmospheres. They took what they regarded as the best aspects of their favourite bands and moulded these influences into a new kind of entity. The result was the marriage of melodic Scandinavian death metal and traditional Finnish tunes. Lyrics turned out to be sorrowful, dream-like tales of love and death that usually took place amidst the Finnish nature. Influences were taken from the Finnish folklore as well as the world literature. After two years of intensive training Insomnium made their first demo-cd, which received praises from all over the world. The second demo was made the following year and it gained a lot of attention as well. This time, record companies got interested, too. In the beginning of 2001 founding members, guitarist Ville Friman, drummer Markus Hirvonen and bassist/vocalist Niilo Sevänen, attached a new guitarist, Ville Vänni to the band. Now Insomnium was stronger than ever and ready to rise to the next level. A deal with Candlelight was signed the same spring and recording of the first album began in the summer.