Album Rating: 5.0

The call backs I hear that are more than your basic structural repeats are Part 5 and Part 6 using a very similar guitar melody in a different arrangement. And then Part 7 has Part 1 and Part 4 melodies in it. Are there others?

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

on second listen-thru: the rhythm guitar being so low in the mix kinda bothers me. The instrumentals themselves are fine but why can I barely hear the rifffffs.

Album Rating: 5.0

@Dmax28 good catches man, I don't know if I could even have been that specific! I think there's carry over from 2 in 4 also. And I THINK they do a revision of the epic outro of part 5 in the background of Part 7.



Holy shit this is exactly why they broke it up into parts (maybe, probably not lol)! It's easier to talk about!



@zaru yeah I have to agree with you there, some of the backing riffs are incredible, I go so far as to say the best element period. But they're mixed pretty low it's true.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

nah they do it for commercial/accessibility reasons or w/e. Digital versions of Crimson, Crimson II, and the original Dopesmoker were split bc blah blah nobody's gonna jam a >40 minute song in one go.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah, of course -_-



I do feel with this that they probably found places to break it after (mostly) finishing it, as opposed to purposefully/consciously like writing in the breaks.

Album Rating: 4.0

this is what fours were made for

Album Rating: 5.0

Oh cool, I didn't realize till you said that. The intro of Part 1 where the lead melody comes in leading up to the verse is basically the same as the epic ending of Part 3 and is used again in Part 7. This makes me like Part 3 and the album even more.



And yea the main melody of Part 4 that is played on the guitar as well as in the clean vocals is used prominently in Part 7 including the main motif of the acoustic outro.



Unless I am incorrect I think the carry over from 2 to 4 is more a similar chord progression than melody. But it's still very structrally pleasing as a call back.

I just want to say how much I LOVE Part 2. So haunting and beautiful yet foreboding. I love the outro with the harmonized volume swells and delay on the guitar. And when Part 3 brings the opening rhythm into a more extended melodic progression it's so candidly beautiful.



In Part 2 and Part 3 the winter expanse is so palpable it's crazy.

Album Rating: 5.0

Man you really picked your brain about this lol wow



This whole thing is so good. I really like that they carried the doom section into part 6, I thought they were gonna give up on it a lot sooner than that.

Album Rating: 5.0

Funny you mention that. My first reaction was Part 5 and 6 brought it down a bit, especially with 6 continuing the slow trend. But now I see it was clearly the right decision. Great to see the conviction digging deep letting the groove settle in in that section. The brilliant outro to Part 6 helps too. :D



It's so cool Markus Vanhala from Omnium Gatherum is in Insomnium now. He is one of my top guitarists. Love that ultra melodic, sort of classical sound with some modern flash. His playing is very practical and not highly technical for metal lead standards. His solos are always pretty short too, they only show up when necessary, and it would be a stretch to call the leads themselves innovative. He makes every note count, so to speak. Yes, I am an Omnium Gatherum fanboy.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah I like that they kinda peeled some of the sound-assault away for that stretch. There's a few sections where's there's almost too much stuff going on. I was bored with the slower part at first but after a half dozen listens I appreciate that sort of break from the intensity it gives you.



It's kind of relaxing. And then the massive conclusion.

Album Rating: 4.5

You can really feel the gates of winter opening on part 6, such an awesome track. i can't really find anything wrong with the whole album/song. After the 10th listen, im still amazed.

Album Rating: 5.0

Wow, on my first listen this seemed pretty boring, but wow. This is really fucking good. Much appreciated loss of the cringeworthy cleans and Niilo destroys

Album Rating: 4.0

The cleans on this were used much more tastefully and effectively.



Vinyl showed up yesterday and it's a beautiful package. I didn't realize that it includes the entire Winter's Gate short story as well, so I'm looking forward to reading that. The lyrics on this album have amazing imagery, but there really is no plot to the concept album. I'm okay with this, I just expected more of a story since it was based on a story. Instead the gist of it is, winter is cold, mighty, and depressing.

Album Rating: 5.0

The cleans on this were used much more tastefully and effectively.



Agreed, I actually could appreciate them, which can't be said also for the last 2 albums

Album Rating: 4.0

Well I can hardly differentiate between the songs but thats not a criticism, its the opposite acutally

Album Rating: 5.0

@DungeonBoy I can see where you're coming from about the story element of the album being kind of thin BUT...



I feel like the only way they could have beefed it up was to add more lyrics, which I think would have started to overshadow the instrumentation.

Album Rating: 4.0

Totally agree man. I think the concept part of this album mostly speaks through the music and not so much the lyrics. You have albums like MAYH, Still Life, Terminal Redux, etc. where the lyrical story really guides you along with the music. On Winter's Gate, the vocals are more of just an accompanying instrument, and are more focused on providing a wintry atmosphere.

Album Rating: 5.0

Definitely, they let the story do most of the "talking" and the music gives you solid imagery but leaves plenty of spaces for your imagination to full in.



Just want to point out that Insomnium's drumming has never been much of a talking point and...it kinda still isn't lol but they keep it interesting and varied for 40 straight minutes, impressing me yet again.

Album Rating: 3.5

hmmmm

Album Rating: 4.5

I actually don't enjoy the cleans on this at all. I don't care for their use of cleans in general though. Niilo is one of my favorite growlers and I will always prefer to hear him over anyone else in this band, but it certainly doesn't help that their cleans have never exactly been good.