Review: Course of Fate – Somnium

Style: Progressive Metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Circus Maximus, Kamelot, Serenity, Symphony X
Review by: Doug
Country: Norway
Release date: 25 August, 2023

I feel like a broken record sometimes when I ramble on comparing a band’s latest release to their prior ones or speculate whether a strong debut will lead to a strong followup, but it’s legitimately one of the things that keeps me coming back to the underground scene. Just as often as those expectations pay off and a new favorite comes into being, they instead fall scattered on the floor as the artist in question fades into the recesses of my brain dedicated to trivia and the various obscure SyFy original series that I watched as a teenager. In this case, Course of Fate, the six(!) Norwegians responsible for my favorite 2020 debut LP Mindweaver return to the stage to prove that they can live up to the promise of that strong beginning. Serving up traditional prog fare with just a touch of power metal, Somnium evokes emotions with a veteran’s touch and leaves no element of the progressive toolbox underutilized.

Somnium offers a lot of the same that Mindweaver did, and I count that as a win. Although not great sources of novelty, both albums present a surprisingly polished take on traditional progressive metal considering how relatively inexperienced and unknown Course of Fate still are. Instead of chasing massive epics or intensely intellectual concept albums, these musicians favor compact songs (at least by prog standards) which concentrate and maximize emotional impact within their short runtimes. With excellent use of volume dynamics, they invoke high and low moments with more talent than some bands that have been doing this for decades. Although not every track distributes these peaks and valleys equitably, the musical summits offer beautiful landscape vistas while their neighboring lowlands provide respite from unrelenting intensity, and the journeys in between are rarely boring (though not never).

Like its predecessor, Somnium features a grandiose, epic sound, stacking up layers of percussion, guitars, keyboards, and multiple vocal tracks into a beautifully homogenized blend of instruments working in concert, none individually hogging the spotlight but all contributing noticeably in their own ways to the end product. At the towering peaks of Course of Fate’s composition, headlined by overpowering vocals backed up by all those supporting layers beneath, the music hits with physical force. Take the chorus of “Vile at Heart” or the climactic moments of “…Of Ruins” for instance – each serving as capstone of its own expertly-crafted buildup, these moments pay off the musicians’ technical excellence and hard work with jolts of feeling that are easy to feel and process to their fullest, but no less complex than one expects from the progressive tradition. Indeed, the complexities of rhythm and harmony on display here make possible a depth of expression that bands belonging to other genres would struggle to achieve, and Course of Fate take full advantage.

Somnium is not without its missteps, though. Both “Wintersong” and “Remembrance,” seemingly in an effort to try something different and mix up the style a bit, simply don’t feature those kinds of high-emotion moments that I have praised so much. For the latter, I can understand the motivation more; as a solemn, introspective piece of music, it offers a contrast and a rest from the intensity that surrounds it, and as much as that intense approach may serve Course of Fate‘s talents better, I can appreciate the effort to leave some empty space in which the exultant echoes can reverberate. For “Wintersong,” though, there’s no excuse. Despite being built from largely the same musical concepts as the other tracks, it somehow fails to raise the same high-ceilinged cathedral atmosphere or to stir the same emotional response to its triumphant moments, filling itself with weak, unsupported, and forgettable components instead.

Despite those missteps, Somnium stands up to the promise of its predecessor and lays the second step in a developing legacy of quality. Although not all of the album can inspire as much excitement as its highest highs, the more reserved tracks offer some contrast against which those exuberant climaxes can be felt all the stronger. I am not so bold as to make any strong claims about what potential Course of Fate may yet have to show the metal community, but so far they have demonstrated a consistent talent for emotive and evocative songwriting, and whether or not that potential bears itself out in the future, it at least makes this album worth exploring.

Recommended tracks: Morpheus’ Dream, Vile at Heart, Valkyries, …Of Ruins
You may also like: Noveria, Sacred Outcry, Black Fate, Darkwater, Psycrence
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Rock of Angels Records – Bandcamp | Website | YouTube | Facebook

Course of Fate is:
– Eivind Gunnesen (vocals)
– Kenneth Henriksen (guitars)
– Marcus Lorentzen (guitars)
– Carl Marius Saugstad (keyboards)
– Daniel Nygaard (bass)
– Per-Morten Bergseth (drums)