Welcome to The Saw’s Butcher Shop! Your Master Butcher has had another new release on repeat as of late – On February 24, 2023, Insomnium dropped Anno 1696 (Century Media), their newest studio album in a long line of excellent progressive Blackened Death Metal. It’s an epic story, told in eight parts, concerning the 17th century witch hunts in Finland. Raw emotions are on display, both in the musical aspects of the story, as well as in the vocal and lyrical delivery. And these emotions are accentuated even more by the guests that appear on the record.
Insomnium formed in 1997 in Joensuu, Finland. With little evolution, the band began as a progressive Melodic Death Metal band and have held that line for over 25 years. As of late, they have incorporated a Black Metal flair, especially in musical compositions. Insomnium utilize both gravely and clean vocals, with gutterals as the main delivery. You can hear the famous Swedish Gothenburg style at the core of their sound (the melodic aspect), but Insomnium have always been much more than that, with their incorporation of many other styles and influences.
Anno 1696, the band’s ninth studio release, is a fascinating concept album, written by bassist/vocalist Niilo Sevanen, based on historical events from the northern European witch trials of the 17th century. The Torsaker Witch Trials were as a result of stories of cannibalism and child murder because of the great famine that was sweeping the land. As people do, in an attempt to assign blame for the famine, the church, ironically, conjures witches as the culprits. Anno 1696 (“Year 1696”) tells the story of “Lilian,” in a very dramatic lyrical and musical sense.
Each track is a scene in the narrative – from the opener, “1696,” to the introduction of the antagonist, the “White Christ” (with Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ as featured vocalist), through “Godforsaken” (featuring the awesome folk singer, Johanna Kurkela), to the introduction of the protagonist, “Lilian;” the drama plays-out in “Starless Paths,” “The Witch Hunter,” “The Unrest,” and “The Rapids” to end the sad saga. Anno 1696 is a beautiful retelling of the sickening true events; history tailor-made for Heavy Metal!
Insomnium is:
Niilo Sevanen – bass, gutterals (1997 – present)
Ville Friman – guitars, cleans (1997 – present)
Markus Hirvonen – drums (1997 – present)
Markus Vanhala – guitars (2011 – present)
Jani Liimatainen – guitars, cleans (touring 2015-2019, 2019 – present)
Rating: 9/10! Just a beautiful record, telling the sad story of human suffering!
Favorite Songs: White Christ, God Forsaken
Stay Metal,
THE SAW
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