INMORIA – A Farewell To Nothing: The Diary Part 1

Sweden’s Inmoria went through a line-up change that brought them a new singer:  Artillery’s powerful voice and throat, the Danish Sören Nico Adamsen.  After two years since Invisible Wounds, Inmoria has come up with their sophomore release A Farewell To Nothing: The Diary Part 1.  As is indicative from the title, this album is only the beginning of a darkened story.  If you expected something heavy, there you have it.  Inmoria maintains its rough but atmospheric image as a sort of a dark Power Metal assault that might raise memories of the old Tad Morose, Angel Dust, later Steel Attack, old Evergrey, Morgana Lefay, and even slight reminders of Artillery especially when Adamsen is at the helm of the vocals.

In general, Inmoria’s music will serve as the food for plenty that thirst for the sounds of skull-crushing rhythm sections.  There are some riffs that were sheer attacks of madness that will cause some sore necks from headbanging.  Here and there are some well-played solo licks by the band’s skilled guitarist Christer Andersson, which even serve as the savior for a few songs from attaining nothing more than a weak status with his wonderful solo crafting. Furthermore, and beyond being a source for addiction, both the rhythm sections and lead sections are pretty much easy to relate to. The riffs don’t show any sign of a unique character, and recurred in several of the songs.  However, since their placement was suited well, repetition wasn’t such a big deal.  Nevertheless, new ideas will have to come by eventually.

Bringing along Adamsen as vocalist opened the band many options. Besides being a busy Power Metal singer, it seems that Adamsen roughened up since joining Artillery, where he also shined with glory. His voice pattern ranges from a mild angel to a screaming evil fiend, and made the band sound even heavier than their music, similar to Tim “The Ripper” Owens on his variety of projects.  Adamsen may not have the high-pitched capabilities of a banshee, but he doesn’t need it in order to achieve his goals.

A Farewell To Nothing: The Diary Part 1, a title that will probably be out there again with the second part of this shadowy tale, produced some power tracks that will remain spoken about for some time. “My Last Farewell”, the heaviest track, but also with an amazing tempo and energy, may be simple and utterly straightforward, but along with the keyboards as a cloud of toxic rain, it served the song well and kept it accessible and right on flowing. “Hear My Prayers” showed why bands such as Tad Morose and Morgana Lefay succeeded with their earlier releases. Although modern in production in comparison to the band’s earlier albums of the 90s, it mastered the same pattern that created some great pitch-black classics. “End Of The Line” attacked with music that was on the verge of crossing towards Bay Area driven Thrash Metal. It is a merciless track that will show you where the line of the storyteller ends, so watch where you tread. The closing “Why” is not heavy at all, but after such an aggressive approach throughout the entire release, the album needed an emotive and calmer ending to overlay the path for the second part of a future saga. The song consists of an impressive duet between Adamsen and a female singer that actually led the song.  Dan Eriksson, the keyboard man, turned this song into something similar to what Queen once did.  It’s actually kind of magical.

Inmoria impresses with this new album.  Even though the production seemed to be overstuffed with plenty of channels that lacked some clarity, musically the album can be considered a success.

Tracklist

1. Blinded
2. End of the Line
3. Mirror
4. Hear My Prayers
5. In My Dreams
6. Just Another Lie
7. The Silence Within Me
8. My Last Farewell
9. Save Me
10. Watch Me Bleed
11. My Shadow Fall
12. Why

Lineup

Sören Nico Adamsen – Vocals
Dan Eriksson – Keyboards
Christer Andersson – Guitars
Tommi Karppanen – Bass
Peter Morén – Drums