Kev Rowland Originally conceived as a ‘straight’ black metal band towards the end of the nineties, Somberaeon quickly changed their style to something that contains far more melancholy. After a couple of demos they became a duo of Erno Jussila (drums) and Harri Jussila (vocals, guitars) with guests filling the other roles. ‘Broken’ is their debut album, released last year, and is described by the label “creating unique symphonies for the unrepaired souls. These tunes are built from pain, anxiety and the glory of death.” While there are obvious elements of Paradise Lost, interestingly there are also standard HM guitar solos which seem quite at odds with the Black Metal sound that is going on in the background. It is this mix of styles that make this a really interesting BM album. On one level it is dark and brooding, yet on another it is totally aggressive with a definite nod to the power of Darkthrone and Bathory.

This is a sleeping giant in that the blast beats hit you when you least expect it, as they are not present throughout, and the shift and change in styles is what will make listeners stay with it until the end. The individual musical elements may not be the most original, but putting them together all in one place (there’s even acoustic guitar at one point for heaven’s sake) is something out of the norm. They understand the need for dark and shade, light and heavy, and the result is something that is certainly worthy of investigation. www.inverse.fi