It’s been 4 years since I reviewed ‘I Am Become’ and Hanging Garden released ‘Into That Good Night’ in the intervening years, where vocalist Riikka Hatakka became a permanent member. This is also the seventh album for the Finnish septet formed in 2004, from which only guitarist Mikko Kolari remains. Their music is melodic death with plenty of atmospheric arrangements and melancholic beauty.
The album opens with “Kuura” and a mighty roar by Toni Hatakka as Mikko and Jussi Hämäläinen’s guitars drop from heavy to near acoustic in an instant and Riikka’s hauntingly beautiful voice comes in as the main vocal, before the guitar get heavy again and Toni’s death growl takes precedence.
Jussi Kirves’s bass line is the focal point for me on “Faith”, as Riikka’s smooth voice is accompanied by Nino Hynninen’s keyboard and a steady tempo held by Sami Forsstén interspersed with growls and distorted guitars.
While the guitars on “Nowhere Haven” are slow and melodic, Toni’s vocals alternate between clean and death, with Riikka singing alongside both adding her touch to the song.
“Winter’s Kiss” has a poppy undertow, possibly because of quality of Toni’s easy going vocal melody and the flowing guitar and bass that goes with it over the pleasant keyboards.
I really enjoy the simplicity of “When the Music Dies”, as it just allows every note to ring through as the vocals tug at heartstrings while the gentle lead adds to the emotion of the choral vocals.
Utterly atmospheric and mesmerising is “Tunturi”, with Finnish lending itself well to both the gruff and melodious vocals without issue, imbuing it with a black metal quality.
The piano on “Road of Bones” sounds bleak and mournful, but as the guitars join, they seem to brighten up the sound and have the vocals do the same.
Predominantly slow with a doomy bass, “Field of Reeds” still manages to keep the guitars light and airy as the vocals follow suite, even when the growls creep in, but it’s the soaring leads that give the song their majesty.
They end the album with the epic title track “Skeleton Lake”, where it begins with a piano and a gentle drum build-up before the guitars add their melody to the mix, then the long low growls come in to give the song a dimension not used on any other songs thus far, making the juxtaposition with clean female vocals seem even more stark. But all that said, the song still manages to convey strong emotional content reminiscent of a midwinter night beside a frozen body of water.
I enjoyed this thoroughly and shall probably keep listening to it a couple more times, even though I’ve finished my review.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
Leave a Reply