Yearning - Merging Into Landscapes
Holy Records file under doom metal
 Vera: For a while it seemed we might put the superior Finnish doom metal band Yearning off. After four albums - the latest one ‘Evershade’ came out in September 2003 - the band lacked label support and recordings of new material were delayed again and again. It is a pity, for the four previous works blazed proudly in my CD collection as glorious feats of a recent past. Suddenly things changed. Holy Records was willing to lend a helping hand and the result is the ultra melancholic ‘Merging Into Landscapes’, uniting melancholic doom with nearly classical solemnity.
It is a piece of art from a tormented soul (have we ever got something else from Mr. Juhani?). Lyrically he was inspired by the works of Sartre and Baudelaire, his own interpretations result in contemplative poetic lyrics fitting the music in a majestic way. After an acoustic intro, doom metal sounds thrive in ‘Kaleidoscopic Inscape’ by means of tight guitar riffs, low vocals and melodious guitar leads. Juhani’s vocals are solemn and stiff, they hold the mean between Greg Lake having a cold and the latest Funeral album. However, not only a parade of inertia here, for soon there are some proper grunts of Tuborg IV Koskenkorva (Let Me Dream, Saattue) which are flanked by frisky accelerations in the music. Somehow we hear a semblance of female vocals in the back. This is lingering, melancholic and yet heavy! But what a marvellous guitar soloing, also during the next ‘Sphere Of Disgust’ which includes a mysterious spoken verse. Melancholic feels of autumn are perfectly illustrated in ‘Return’ with its meandering guitar leads. The short soaring interlude ‘Datura Stramonium’ leads us to the stabbing riffs of ‘October Rain’. How I feel one with the seasons when listening to this! Again this song draws a sketch of fallen leaves as a painter by clean vocals, gloomy guitar parts and a firm acceleration. In the title track ‘Merging Into Landscape’ we have keyboards taking over the leading role. A small change of accents working out fine. And so Yearning keeps on weaving a majestic carpet of sounds in every song, distinguished, yet very raucous sometimes. This is doom metal of a kind you seldom hear these days. I dare to say that Yearning has a touch of uniqueness.
The album was recorded at the D-studio in Klaukkala (Finland) with Olli Haaranen as engineer. Palomäki works together with him for his new funeral doom project Colosseum too. The only “real” member (except Juhani) on this Yearning album is new drummer Aki Kuusinen. The mix was done by Jarno Hänninnen and the album was finished in France. Fortunately we can enjoy this exceptional, contemplative album now, thanks to Holy Records. Hail!
Rating 92/100 (details)
http://www.yearning.cjb.net
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