1. Jeff Barrett
Music 1010
Today we will be learning about a lesser known Finish metal band called Insomnium and the more obscure genre of melodic death metal. It's my goal to show that although metal may simply sound like needless screaming, excessive power chords and overly busy drums, there is much more than meets the ear. The heavier sound can be off putting to many, but one will be surprised to find deep thought provoking lyrics and heavily complex instrumental elements. This particular band has crafted a style which finds balance with the heaviness that metal heads love and the melodies and harmony any music lover can appreciate.
Insomnium

2. What is Melodic Death Metal?
Sub-genre of Death Metal.
Emphasis melodies and harmonies.
90s Sweden
Instruments: Multiple distorted guitars, heavy drums, double bass drumming.
Vocals: Deep guttural screams/yells occasionally accompanied by clean vocals.
Melodic death metal, also known as melodeath, is a genre of metal that emphasizes harmonies within the style of death metal. As a style it is marked with distorted guitars and bass, heavy and active drumming made possible by the double bass pedals. Along with deep guttural vocals along and occasionally featuring clean vocals (non screaming). This sub genre of metal came to be in the 90s originally coming out of Sweden. As any modern metal heads will tell you, Scandinavia is hailed as the epicenter of modern metal. Many other newer genres of metal also got their start in this region (Bowar). Lyrically the genre will range from subjects relating to intense emotions such as hatred, sorrow, regret and anger. Subject wise one may be confounded by songs relating to nature, philosophy, life, death and love.

3. Band Biography
1997 in Joensuu, Finland.
Latin for insomnia and nightmares.
Influences: Metallica, Slayer, In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Guns'n'Roses.
Maintain regular day jobs.
Hobbies include drinking in nude saunas in complete silence.
Insomnium was formed in late 1997 in Joensuu, Finland. They chose the name Insomnium for it's Latin meaning, which is insomnia and nightmares. (Spirit-of-Metal). The current members are Niiilo Sevänen (bass/vocals), Ville Friman (guitar), Markus Hirvonen (drums), Markus Vanhala (guitar). Most of the members currently maintain day jobs across Europe, as such finding time to practice and record has been difficult. Most of they're collaboration is done online sharing bits of recordings. Their influences include Metallica, Guns'n'Roses, Sepultra, Slayer, In Flames and Dark Tranquility. In the band's free time they enjoy drinking in nude saunas in complete silence with one another (InsomniumBand).

4. Niilo Sevänen (Bass & Vocals)
Born in Turku, Finland 1979.
Works as director of culture in Kotka, Finland.
Majored in Literature and culture.
Mostly inspired by Metalica's Black album.
First band was
Praise, played
covers and punk music.
Born in Turku, Finland Currently he works as the director of culture in Kotka, Finland. He has always been an avid reader which later led him to major in history of culture and literature at Turku university. His musical influences first began mainly with Metalica's Black album. In his own words, “...I saw the video of “Enter Sandman” from the tv, and afterwards it kept haunting my mind.” (Insomnium.net) He was particularly drawn to the intensity of metal music and how it could express feelings of hate, frustration and sorrow. His first band was called Praise and played mostly covers of popular songs from Nirvanan, Metallica and punk bands that were local to 1990s Finland. Later he and some other classmates got together to find the style that led them to found Insomnium.

5. Ville Friman – Guitar & Vocals
Born April 1980 in Kristiinankaupunki, Finland.
Began playing at 16, never had any lessons.
Researcher of evolution, ecology and microbiology.
Ville was born in April 1980 in Kristiinankaupunki, Finland. He currently works at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom as a researcher of evolution, ecology and microbiology. He is also a big fan of soccer. He got into metal in elementary school. He too began with Metallica. His musical tastes gravitated towards death metal early on. Some of his other favorites were In Flames, Amorphis and Dark Tranquility. He first picked up a guitar at the age of 16 although never having gotten any official lessons. He prefers to compose and create music over playing it and has been with Niilo since the band was initially formed in 1997.
Interested in the creation and composition of their music.

6. Markus Vanhala - Guitar
Born in 1981 Kotka Finland.
Parent's placed him in piano lessons, but later switched to guitar.
Teaches guitar lessons and plays in another band Wolftrap.
Markus was born in February 1981 in Kotka, Finland. Growing up his parents were determined to have him become a great musician one day and at the age of 5 they enrolled him in piano lessons. Much to their surprise he was never really interested much in playing the classical genre. As his musical influences started to gravitate from classical to metal at a young age, Markus soon realized the music from his favorite artists like Ozzy, Van Halen and Slash couldn't be emulated on the piano. By 12 he had ditched the piano for the guitar. His later musical influences include Opeth, Dark Tranquillity and Edge of Sanity. He previously played for Manitou and still plays for Wolftrap on the side. In 2012 he was asked by former guitarist Ville Vanni to take his place after leaving the band to focus on the family life. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and teaches guitar lessons in his spare time.
Joined the band in 2012 in place of former guitarist Ville Vanni.

7. Markus Hirvonen - Drums
Born May 1980 in Espoo, Finland.
Began playing guitar at a young age, later adopting the drums.
Began as a guitarist for Insomnium.
Took place of former drummer who left for military service.
Studies environmental technology at university.
Born May 1980 in Espoo, Finland. His first intro into metal music was Metallica. He later became more acquainted with the Melodic death metal style the band eventually adopted by listening to bands such as In Flames and Sepultura. The first musical instrument he learned to play was the guitar. He and his brother would listen to metal and play covers of their favorite songs together. He later picked up on drums which eventually came in handy when the band's first drummer left for military service. He made the transition from being a guitar man to the band's drummer with relative ease. He doesn't do much song writing in the band and prefers to go more with the flow than spend hours practicing before a recording or show. He is currently studying environmental technology at Lappeenranta University of Technology.

8. While We Sleep (6:21)
<
0:00
High note lead in squeal on guitar. Vocal enters with yell. Guitar melody begins with drums playing rhythm.
0:18
Guitar melody continues but in higher notes. Drums continue same rhythm.
0:35
Guitar melody stops, fades out as singing vocals enter. Bass begins playing between beats of drums.
0:51
Guitar returns with long carried slow riffs.
1:10
Tempo increases along with dynamics, enters death metal vocals, guitar begins deeper quicker riffs returning to melody. Begins dissonance of harmony.
1:27
Drum rhythm utilizes more cymbal elements, guitar riff speeds up.
1:45
Guitar plays higher power chord as pitch increases, original rhythm returns, slowed tempo. Harmony returns to consonance.
2:18
Metal vocals stop. Begin instrumental chorus with guitar melody and drums playing rhythm.
2:35
Returns to singing vocals. Guitar melody slows to long carried riffs.
2:53
Tempo increases, return of death metal vocals, guitar melody speeds up. Harmony enters dissonance.
3:45
Tempo slows, exit metal vocals as soft singing begins. Guitar and bass begin slow plucking. Harmony consonance.
4:19
Exit vocals. Guitar develops melody through power chord in slowly increasing pitch.
4:54
Bass drumming tempo increases signaling end of melody development and returns to original rhythm. Guitar melody returns to original riffs at higher dynamics, return of death metal vocals.
5:28
Bass drumming tempo increases signaling end of (chorus) then returning to rhythm? With guitar power chord at higher drawn pitch.
6:03
Guitar riff ends and dynamics drop. Finishes with quick soft plucking to fade out.
While We Sleep (6:21)
While We Sleep is one of Insomnium's greatest hits. It differs from the majority of their work in utilizing softer vocals and backing down from some of the heavier work they've done in the past to really emphasize their harmony composition. You'll hear more guitar solo work on the part of Markus Vanhala in this track. Lyrically, this song deals with the sorrow and resentment that comes from the lose of love. It's unclear whether that is through death or the end of a relationship. It goes on to mention the distance created between each other as one sleeps and dreams while building up a wall around their emotions. Towards the end as the voices chant the need to slow down, it becomes clear the overall message here is to slow down when on the path of self loathing and resentment to really become aware of one's feelings and the road they find themselves upon.

9. Down With the Sun (4:23)
<
0:00
Long carried squeal note on guitar with keyboard playing at slowly increasing dynamic.
0:07
Keyboard playing ends, kick up drums, enters guitars and bass. Introduction of melody.
0:40
Harmony bridge carried guitar chords leads to introduction of chorus.
0:43
Enter guttural metal vocals, melody resumes with more emphasis on guitar as the lead.
0:51
Rhythm guitar picks up melody.
0:59
Disharmony, guitar playing raises in pitch along with low background vocals.
1:16
Vocals drop in octave, temp slows, drumming uses more cymbal elements guitars begin low riffs.
1:31
Kick up on drums and vocals raise dynamics
1:49
Instrumental melody, exit vocals.
2:21
Enters vocals, deep low guitar riffs.
2:38
Pitch of guitars raise.
2:55
Disharmony, guitar pitch lowers and low background vocals, tempo slows.
3:10
Lead vocals return, all dynamics increase, return to harmony with melody.
3:28
Harmonic breakdown, guitar power chord, emphasis on metal vocals.
4:09
Guitar ends, drums cease, vocals soften, return of keyboard to fade out.
Down With the Sun (4:23)
Down With the Sun features amazing chord progressions. As a listener you feel carried away ever upwards as it the song develops. This is an excellent showcase of the technical work Insomnium is capable of. The intensity of this song is simply unmatched. What makes the death metal style so unique is both that the lyrics are nearly impossible to make out while listening and that when you read them you'll be surprised that a large number relate to nature. The “Across the Dark” album from which this song comes, focuses heavily on nature in a very poetic matter which can often be missed by the sheer intensity of the music. Lyrically this song seems to be relating the “Maid of twilight” as a mother like view of the moon. She takes away the light from the sky each night and the subject of the song finds this intoxicating. It ends with “For vain is all the toil and trouble....In the end I'll find my solace in an earthen cradle....So good night.” This seems to relate the subject's struggle of desiring the moon to lure him to slumber and dreams, to the vanity of life's struggles. The subject resolves this by acknowledging his/her own death and mortality.

10. Guitar lead in playing chords. 0:10
Ephemeral (4:02)
<
0:00
Guitar lead in playing chords.
0:10
Enter drums and bass raise of tempo introduces musical theme and melody.
0:30
Enters coarse metal vocals.
0:52
Tempo increases, vocals lower in pitch, disharmony, heavy double bass on drums.
1:12
Brief pause before harmony returns with theme and melody at higher dynamic. First chorus.
1:32
Vocals dynamics increase, melody tempo slows
1:42
Faded softened vocals repeat lyrics maintaining harmony with melody.
1:52
End of soft vocals, return of coarse metal vocals, tempo raises rhythm is quick with double bass on drums, disharmony.
2:13
Return of chorus, harmony returns, deeper riffs on guitar.
2:33
Power chord riffs on guitar, background vocals at lower pitch, rhythm slows.
2:53
Coarse metal vocals return.
3:14
Brief pause with fade in of coarse vocals, returns to original musical theme and melody, tempo raises.
3:39
Vocals leave after carried yell, emphasis on guitar power chord with increase in dynamic.
3:58
Guitar chords played at higher pitch out of harmony, final kick up of drum double bass pedals.
Ephemeral focuses heavily upon the message delivered by the lyrics. Vocally it is much more clear than the majority of their work. The instruments focus on melodies that carry you through the message it tries to convey and the intensity of the scream on the part of the singer helps make the delivery really hit home.
Ephemeral is a prime example of the unique lyrics one will find in the death metal genre. This song is surprisingly philosophical. The word ephemeral means a fading or fleeting moment, something which is transitory. It compares darkness to ignorance and knowledge to light. The focus is upon life being so temporary and that through all the struggles we fight through, we all have one life and one chance to really experience it. In the line “Dying doesn't make this world dead to us” it seems to take on an optimistic tone, in that although we are faced with our mortality it doesn't change the experiences we have in every fleeting moment.

11. Composition History
While We Sleep and Ephemeral on Shadows of Dying Sun album. Written and composed by Ville Friman.
Down With The Sun is from Across The Dark Album. Niilo wrote the lyrics and composed it with Friman.
The songs “While We Sleep” and “Ephemeral” are both off the Shadows Of The Dying Sun album. This is their 2nd album under the much larger Century Media Record label. It was released April 29th, The whole album was the first debut of Markus Vanhala after he took the place of Ville Vanni. Both songs were written and mainly composed by Ville Friman. “Down With the Sun” was from the Across the Dark Album which was released September 7th, This was under their previous smaller label of Candlelight Records. The lyrics were written entirely by Niilo. He and Ville Friman created the composition. Their chord progression really improves in this album, especially in this song.

12. Discography Earlier Work
In The Halls of Awaiting (2002)
Mostly progressive metal style.
Coarse, more dissonance with vocals and instruments.
Above The Weeping World (2006)
Darker both lyrically and heavier instrumentally.
Comes into their niche and more unique style.
Insomnium's earlier work was all signed with Candlelight Records. In this musical genre you can really hear the niche they carve for themselves throughout their work. Comparatively to the large body of music in genre's such as pop, jazz or rock the range of artists are quite small. As such, the work artists of the genre create really helps define it in a big way. In the “In The Halls of Awaiting” album you can hear their inexperience showing. This seems to be the least original work they produce. Stylistically it seems more influenced by bands like Metallica and the thrash metal genre. In “Since the Day it All Came Down” their skill definitely changes in a big way. The vocals are more cleaned up. Harmonies are maintained much longer than before with better melodies. “Above the Weeping World” is definitely one of their most defining albums. Their style really takes on a realm of it's own here. They adopt much darker lyrics and tone, their instrumental work becomes much more technical and heavy or as we call it in the metal world 'brutal'.
Since The Day It All Came Down (2004)
Maintains better harmonies, cleaner vocals, more technical instrumentals.

13. Discography Later Work
One For Sorrow (2012)
New guitarist showcases ability.
New record label.
Depressing tone, influences from black metal.
Across The Dark (2009)
Excellent chord progressions.
Lyrically focus upon nature.
Shadows of The Dying Sun (2014)
Most popular album features hit song “While We Sleep”.
Excels in harmony composition.
“Across the Dark” lyrically focuses almost entirely on aspects of nature and life and death. The chord progressions featured in songs such as “Down With the Sun” are beautifully constructed. The “One for Sorrow” album breaks a lot of new ground for the band. Their former guitarist left and was replaced with a much more technical energetic Markus Vanhala, they signed with a bigger record label Century Media Records, and they some how found a way to increase in intensity while maintaining their darker vibes. “Shadows of the Dying Sun” definitely tones down the heaviness of the previous album to focus more on composition of complex harmonies. It's no wonder this is the album that put them on more people's radar with songs like “While We Sleep” and “Ephemeral”. In Winter 2016 they are releasing the album Winter's Gate in which they created a 40 minute song broken up into seven parts focusing on the winter's solstice. From this stellar body of work it's very clear this band has a lot more to come and more pages to write in the history of melodic death metal genre.

14. End

15. Bibliography
"Biography: Insomnium." Spirit-of-metal.com. Insomnium, Web. 1 Nov
Bowar, Chad. "What Is Melodic Death Metal?" About.com/entertainment. About Inc, 16 Feb Web. 3 Nov
InsomniumBand. "Insomnium Ask Us Anything." Reddit.com. Insomnium, Web. 6 Nov
"Insomnium Biography." Insomnium.net. Century Media, Web. 5 Nov
"Insomnium Discography" Insomnium.net. Century Media, N/A. Web. 5 Nov
One For Sorrow. Dir. Jussi Ratilainen. Perf. Insomnium. Youtube. Century Media, 30 Aug Web. 4 Nov

16. Images Referenced
Trees and gray sky <
Band members high resolution performances <
Grey scale of Insomnium concert performance <
Insomnium with large tree by Juggernaut-Art <
Insomnium Shadows of the Dying Sun album with Silhouette <
Band photo all members <
Niilo picture screaming into mic <
Ville flipping hair <
Markus (drums) blue <
Album covers <