Turku, Finland’s melodic death metal outfit Watch Me Fall could be called an early incarnation of Insomnium. Both Niilo Sevanen and Ville Vanni were members, and the sound is easily reminiscent of what Insomnium’s early material sounded like, however it fortunately contains a handful of differences which make it more than just a long-lost Insomnium album. The music takes on a much more keyboard-oriented tone, with keyboard melodies creating both atmosphere and harmony throughout the music, taking the load off of the guitars for a while. The music is slow, deliberate, and intensely melodic throughout, but has its share of guitar solos and fast-paced moments without coming off as pure showmanship.
The music itself shows a combination of both Insomnium (in terms of guitars and vocals) and Kalmah (in terms of keyboards), leaning more toward the former for the majority of the album. Wonderful harmonized guitar melodies are packed into the album, with nearly every song having a riff worth mentioning. Couple that with Sevanen’s typical deep growls combined with his quiet whispers and spoken words which fit the relatively depressive nature of the music with perfection. People may argue that the lack of vocal diversity is a turn-off, which indeed may be true for many listeners, but when you take the atmosphere of the album into account the vocals seem like they were made for this style. The instruments take their time during most of the album, crafting slow, weaving melodies while surprises such as string arrangements make their appearance more than once, a brilliant touch which adds a lot of diversity to the album.
The keyboards are subtle enough to shed any label of the music being symphonic, but are present enough for you to be well aware that they are there, and that they are definitely adding to the music. Often times, the keyboards will slide out of the background to contribute in the forefront with the guitars, often times harmonizing with them to great effect. The addition of guitar solos are also a welcome addition, being added to some, but not all, of the songs and only lasting for a few seconds to avoid stagnation . However, they are expertly composed and performed, and often serve as a transition to the strings or to the few acoustic guitar pieces scattered throughout the album.
It’s not fair to approach this album thinking that it is going to be another Insomnium record, because it simply is not. While the sound is similar in many aspects, it is also different in quite a few. Watch Me Fall disbanded shortly after this album was released, so with
Worn being their only release, it sort of slipped into the shadow of other melodic death metal releases, a fate which it didn’t deserve. It may be a hard-to-find record, but it is well worth it, especially for fans of melodic death metal. If you aren’t a fan of Insomnium’s sound, this album may or may not be for you, but it could provide that hint of variance which Insomnium’s four records fail to provide. However, for fans of this kind of sound, I recommend
Worn wholeheartedly.
