Emerging from the fog-laden north, just in time for autumn’s turn comes a new band featuring a cast of characters that should be familiar to all. Cemetery Skyline releases their debut album Nordic Gothic on October 11, 2024, via Century Media Records, and boasts one of the most impressive lineups to coalesce in years. Each member is a heavy hitter of the Scandinavian Metal underground going back into the ’90s, ratcheting up the anticipation even as the term ‘supergroup’ raises the usual eyebrows amongst the cynical.
By now, with no less than five songs already released, fans know what to expect from a five-piece that features the likes of Vocalist Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, The Halo Effect), Guitarist Markus Vanhala (Insomnium), Bassist Victor Brandt (Witchery, ex-Entombed, ex-Firespawn), Keyboardist Santeri Kallio (Amorphis), and Vesa Ranta (Sentenced) manning the drum kit.
Whatever blessing from the Metal Gods brought these old friends together, fans can rest assured that melancholic, yet upbeat Gothic Rock is receiving a healthy kick in the ass from these Finnish and Swedish masters of the songwriting craft. Driving rhythms and smooth vocals propel hook-laden earworm songs with choruses for days. Kallio’s adroit playing fits the somber mood perfectly, buoyed by the bottom end featuring Ranta’s powerful percussion style.
“Behind The Lie,” one of the aforementioned lead singles, gives the listener all of these beautiful elements in spades. Less confrontational than the similarly vintaged High Parasite, this is still Metal enough to cause some inadvertent headbanging. While names like Type O Negative and The Sisters of Mercy get thrown around (not without merit), astute fans will grasp that fleeting era of the late ’90s and early ’00s with bands such as Darkseed and Evereve, with a drop of latter-day Moonspell and Tiamat.
“Violent Storm” pelts along at a rapid pace, with a bridge and a chorus that will lodge itself in the brain and remain there. This is smooth yet hard-hitting Rock with a Metal heart, paying heed to old influences in the form of new and compelling songs. This one is third in the album tracklist, by which time the listener has already been carried away by the wistful opener “Torn Away” and its follow-on song, the lovely “In Darkness.” The latter has shades of Depeche Mode and similar New Wave. Singable choruses, simply bursting with melody, prove unequivocally that tried-and-true styles can be wrought anew. Vanhala’s guitar solo is the chef’s kiss of the whole composition, balanced wonderfully by Kallio’s keys. Brandt’s bass playing is pleasantly discernible in the mix – a necessity for transcendent tunes like those on offer here.
As for the songs that have not reached your ears yet, dear listener, what awaits is a continued lesson in aural pleasure. Balladry is afoot on “When Silence Speaks.” Stanne has a voice that borders on stunning. Building to an orchestral crescendo, this song is as lovely as fresh snowfall on tombstones. An ode to loneliness and sadness wrapped in a cloak of powerful beauty, another Vanhala solo puts an exclamation point on one of the most heartbreaking songs our musical heroes have each been a part of; taking the emotive reaches of the day jobs of these fine gentlemen – who will be surprised?
This is while “When Silence Speaks” and “The Darkest Night” resume the medium-paced chug of keyboard-augmented Gothic Rock. The latter song achieves more of the sublime, emotional timbre at which most of the album vibrates. The band is breaking hearts while getting the feet moving on the dance floor, the fist-pumping the air; what is remarkable and unsurprising is how easy they make it seem. No laurels are being rested upon by the storied veteran musicians concerned with the album’s making.
“Never Look Back,” with its Journey meets Subdivisions-era Rush, harks back to the ’80s with all the glorious simplicity and efficient songwriting one could hope for. “The Coldest Heart” and its Type-O Negative bassline beginning, gives off vibes of “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds even as its Rock-n-Roll heart and gang-shouted refrain keep the horns up like a W.A.S.P. song from 1986. Vanhala (yes, once again) slides in a guitar solo that always adds to the atmosphere and never detracts or distracts. The album concludes with the dulcet “Anomalie” and the sparse come-to-life atmosphere of “Alone Together.” The cold maudlin comfort in the song seems to conjure a character who has tried and failed at finding happiness. The message is uplifting, and so too does the song take an almost Anathema-like excursion out to the song and the album’s end.
Overall, Cemetery Skyline is a special creation featuring some of the underground’s best musicians, and for this reason, Cryptic Rock gives Nordic Gothic 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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