Released By: Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Release Date: Out Now!
Genre: Power Metal
Links: https://www.facebook.com/InsaniaStockholmOfficial/
Line Up:
Ola Halén – Vocals, Guitar
Niklas Dahlin – Guitar
Erik Arkö – Bass
Mikko Korsbäck – Drums
Tracklist:
1. The Trinity
2. Indestructible
3. No One’s Hero
4. Afterlife
5. Revolution
6. The Prophesier
7. Fire from Above
8. Underneath the Eye
9. The Great Apocalypse (When Hell is All Around)
Sometimes, even a band that’s been around for a long time can put out some of their best work 30+ years into their career. Such is certainly the case for Swedish power metal band Insania, who’ve been around since the early ’90s. While their earlier albums have a strong reputation, especially Sunrise in Riverland and Fantasy (A New Dimension), I had difficulty getting into their early work for various reasons. In fact, while I did enjoy their fourth album, Agony – Gift of Life, it was really their big comeback album, V (Praeparatus Supervivet), which fully won me over and made me instantly take notice. They’ve since gone through further lineup changes, and about three and a half years later, they’ve now unleashed their sixth full-length album, The Great Apocalypse, and it’s an instant classic!
V was the band’s first album in 14 years and was a continuation of their brand of classic power metal, influenced by the likes of Helloween, Gamma Ray, and Stratovarius, while also showing slight hints at a more progressive direction. The Great Apocalypse continues with this and has some of the band’s most complex material to date, with rather progressive arrangements as well as some huge instrumental sequences that go on for a few minutes, yet manage to stay fresh and enjoyable the whole way through, particularly on the two longest tracks. While the band has gone through a lot of lineup changes over the years, and they had some members leave between this album and V, including longtime keyboardist Dimitri Keiski and bassist Tomas Stolt, they’ve managed to not only retain their usual sound but take it even further than ever before, resulting in one of the best classic-sounding power metal albums I’ve heard in quite a while. New bassist Erik Arkö instantly fits in well, while veteran guitarist Niklas Dahlin does a superb job as always, and of course founding member, drummer Mikko Korsbäck is outstanding, often having to alternate between more laid-back and more intense drumming several times within a track. As always, he does a stellar job of leading the band’s rhythm section. Vocalist Ola Halén has also been around for a while, since the band’s third album, Fantasy, and he too is in top form. He has a rather light, smooth voice, which works great for the band’s melodic approach to power metal, and he also demonstrates a rather impressive range, sometimes utilizing a rather deep voice, while other times hitting some pretty big high notes, and of course he also stays somewhere in between quite often. His voice is as smooth and powerful as always, and he really gets to showcase his talents on some spectacular choruses. While the album has some very impressive instrumental work and songwriting, none of the material would work nearly as well as it does with him behind the mic. Production is also superb, as it strikes a nice balance between having a classic power metal feel while also sounding as polished, crisp, and clear as one would expect from a more modern power metal album.
Stylistically, I’d say a lot of the material is what fans of classic power metal, especially Helloween or Stratovarius, would expect, with a nice balance between guitars and keys. There’s some heavy riffs at times, as well as some very impressive neoclassical shredding, especially during the instrumental sections, but there’s also tons of more light and melodic guitar work. Likewise, the keys can be very flashy and impressive at times, but they’re also sometimes used more for flavor, or to coexist alongside the guitars, without fully taking over. I’d say some tracks lean a bit more on one over the other, but a lot of the time the two are balanced nicely, so fans of both have a lot to enjoy on this album. Most tracks are fast-paced and very melodic, though there are plenty of tempo changes on some of the tracks. While there are some more straightforward affairs such as the opener “The Trinity” and “Afterlife”, there are also some more progressive tracks, as well as some which alternate between different styles multiple times throughout, particularly the closing track. The material always has an old-school feel to it while simultaneously feeling fresh. The songwriting is definitely one of the album’s biggest strong points, with everything from verses to choruses, instrumental sections, and even overall song structure all feeling expertly crafted. While many of the tracks have a lot going on, it all flows together perfectly, with every second of it being nothing short of remarkable.
As the name The Great Apocalypse would suggest, this is a very dark album lyrically. It deals with apocalyptic themes, particularly focusing on mankind’s destructive tendencies, and there are some rather political lyrics, especially on the track “No One’s Hero”. I find the lyrics quite interesting personally, but at the same time, most tracks make it easy to ignore them if that’s not your thing, as the music often sounds very cheery and upbeat, in spite of the lyrics.
Moving on, the album gets off to an explosive start with “The Trinity”, one of the more straightforward tracks on the album. It kicks off with a brief voiceover sample, before the keys quickly take over, and then some heavy, driving guitars show up, leading into a fast and fun opening verse. The chorus is big, epic, and super catchy, moving at a blazing pace, and Halén immediately shines with some amazing vocal melodies. The final run-through in particular is absolutely stunning. It’s a fairly simple track overall, but it does have a lengthy instrumental section, alternating fluidly between some very classic-sounding guitar solos as well as some epic keyboard solos. Overall, it’s a superb track as well as a great introduction to the album.
The pace slows down a bit with “Indestructible”, a more mid-paced track with a nice mix of epic keys and orchestral elements, as well as some moderately heavy guitar work. The verses move along at a smooth pace, while the chorus is a bit more upbeat but still not overly speedy. It has some wonderful vocal melodies, and the keyboards are very epic and lead the way, along with the vocals. The instrumental section is again fairly lengthy, and there’s a very technically impressive guitar solo towards the end, along with some beautiful melodic sections, though the chorus remains the highlight of the track.
Photo Credit: Composite photo by Justin Roszkowski
Next is “No One’s Hero”, an eight-minute epic which certainly has a lot going on. It opens up with very flashy keys before moving into more epic, orchestral territory for a bit, and it’s certainly one of the more symphonic-sounding tracks on the album while still having plenty of outstanding guitar work. It moves at a blazing pace during the verses, with the drums going all out, and Halén utilizes some of his higher vocals throughout, especially shining on the chorus, which slows things down a bit in spots before speeding up some more towards the end. There’s some impressive vocal melodies and guitar work, though this is one of those tracks where the keyboards and drums definitely lead the way. At least up until the instrumental section, which goes on for a good three minutes or so, and it constantly alternates between epic keyboard solos and guitar solos, with some more prog-infused moments as well as some more classic power metal, and even some neoclassical moments towards the end. It all goes together perfectly and is easily the highlight of the track, and one of the highlights of the album overall.
Following such an epic track, it makes sense the band would provide a simpler, more punchy follow-up in the form of “Afterlife”. The opening instrumental section has a cheery, upbeat feel, reminding me a bit of Freedom Call with how happy it sounds, though once the track gets going it sounds more like Helloween and Gamma Ray. This is a track where the guitars dominate, with some heavy riffs during the verses as well as some very beautiful, melodic work during the chorus and instrumental sections. Halén sounds absolutely wonderful on the chorus, sounding like a mix of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske in the best way possible, and the chorus itself is terrific, with some of the best vocal melodies on the album. The solo section is a bit shorter than usual but still superb, with a very classic feel to it. The final run-through chorus features a great use of a key change, and Halén delivers some absolutely amazing vocals right at the end of the track.
Next is lead single “Revolution”, another very epic track which starts out fairly simple but becomes quite complex and interesting as it goes on. The opening instrumental section is fast-paced and features some outstanding melodic guitar work, but things slow down for the opening verse, which is fairly calm and led by keyboards, drums, and vocals. It builds up nicely, with brief moments of heaviness, before giving way to an absolutely glorious chorus, which has a more theatrical feel. The pace slows down completely for a very beautiful piano piece, where Halén’s voice fully takes over. It’s a very moody, atmospheric chorus with a strong Broadway musical vibe, and it’s absolutely remarkable. This is followed up by a speedy instrumental section, and then the final run-through the chorus initially speeds things up before slowing back down again, but including more guitar work to make it even more epic. And then the track closes with another brilliant piano-driven section with more awesome vocals. When I first heard the track I was blown away and wondered if the rest of the album could possibly live up to it, which it very much does.
Unsurprisingly, the next track “The Prophesizer” is a much more laid-back track, and it has a melodic prog feel as well as perhaps some hard rock influence. It’s a more keyboard-driven track, and it moves at a fairly slow pace throughout, mostly driven by some atmospheric keys and light vocal passages. The verses are very soft and have a classic prog feel, while the chorus is more upbeat and energetic, with some wonderful vocal melodies, but it’s still fairly calm and slow compared to most other tracks. The instrumental section is impressive, nothing overly flashy, but there’s some very beautiful guitar work throughout as well as a brief speedy passage towards the end. The final run-through the choruses speeds things up partway through and features another great key change.
Next is “Fire Above”, a very melodic, guitar-driven track which moves at a galloping pace, never moving at full speed but staying fairly upbeat throughout. There’s some nice neoclassical guitar work and keys throughout the track, and the overall vibe reminds me a bit of classic Royal Hunt, vocals included. There’s a very lengthy instrumental section in the middle, which includes a very nice softer section early on before speeding up and going into more neoclassical power metal territory later on.
The last shorter track is “Underneath the Eye”, perhaps the fastest track on the album. It opens up with an atmospheric keyboard section before the guitars slowly kick in, and from there the opening verse has some rather thrashy guitar work, and it speeds along at a frantic pace. The instrumental work becomes more epic and more neoclassical-infused as the track moves on, with some outstanding guitars and keys, and the chorus is super fast-paced, melodic, and very catchy, with the keys and blazing-fast drums leading the way. The solo section is superb and maintains the strong neoclassical flavor of the rest of the track.
Closing out the album is the title track, a 14-minute epic and by far the most complex and progressive track on the album. It opens up with some brief voiceovers, and the first few minutes are fairly atmospheric and moody, slowly building up to something spectacular and epic. There’s a lot of mid-paced, progressive sections on the track, especially in the first half, which sounds a bit like a more melodic version of Symphony X at points, with how the guitars and keys sound. There’s way too much going on here to cover all of it, but the biggest highlights include a very beautiful piano section in the second half as well as a speedy, epic section which immediately follows. The track strikes a nice balance between explosive sections and more dark and moody sections, fitting in nicely with the apocalyptic nature of the lyrics. There are some rather lengthy instrumental sections on and off throughout the track, but Halén is also given plenty of moments to shine, especially on the softer moments as well as that explosive, speedy section towards the end. Overall, it’s an amazing track and easily the highlight of the album, as well as a perfect closer.
I had high expectations for The Great Apocalypse after how much I loved V, but Insania have truly stepped up their game this time around and delivered easily their best album I’ve heard, as well as one of the best power metal albums of this decade so far. It has all the elements one would expect, with a nice mix of melodic guitars, epic keys, huge choruses, and some amazing instrumental sections, to go along with a stellar vocal performance from Ola Halén. The songwriting is also outstanding the whole way through, and the production is perfect. As impressive as all the individual components of the album are, the most impressive thing about it is how it all comes together so perfectly, with everything fitting together exactly how it should. Longtime fans of the band should be very happy, and I’d also recommend this album to any classic power metal fans looking for an album which maintains a classic sound and feel while also standing out in its own way to be an instant classic.
Ratings: 10/10
Editors Pick 
Written by: Travis Green
My Global Mind – Staff Writer
Travis Green is a Canadian based writer for My Global Mind, with a particular passion for power metal, as well as an interest metal in all its forms.
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