Review: Green Carnation – A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia

Style: Genres Progressive metal, gothic metal (mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Anathema, Opeth, Paradise Lost, In the Woods…
Country: Norway
Release date: 5 September 2025

As one of several passionate Green Carnation fans at The Progressive Subway, I relished the opportunity to revisit 2001’s Light of Day, Day of Darkness in my Lost In Time retrospective earlier this year. That hour-long opus is one of my favourite progressive metal albums, and it cemented the Norwegian ensemble as masters of expansive, brooding grandeur. Yet the band certainly haven’t rested on their laurels, returning from a hiatus with the powerful Leaves of Yesteryear in 2020. With the bar set so high, Green Carnation’s announcement earlier this year of a forthcoming album trilogy sparked in me that familiar frisson of excitement that comes with seeing a cherished band add another line—or in this case, three lines—to their discography.

Green Carnation’s roots lie in the death and doom metal of the nineties, where they first emerged alongside contemporaries like Katatonia and In the Woods… But rather than being bound to that era, their sound has a more timeless quality, with hefty, lumbering riffs that feel as inevitable now as they would have decades ago. Uninterested in the technical peacocking of some of their prog metal peers, Green Carnation’s sound unfurls in capaciously arcing tracks that ring with emotion. If these are The Shores of Melancholia, the waters are deep and dark, churning with a slow current even as the band sails further into progressive territory.

The plaintive, wailing guitar tone that opens the album on “As Silence Took You” is unmistakable. The track sees vocalist Kjetil Nordhus and guitarist Tchort clambering for higher ground, scaling through successive key changes whose blooming modulations never quite free them from the gravity of the mournfully chugging rhythm guitars below. Green Carnation certainly have a penchant for key changes, as they are frequently employed across The Shores of Melancholia; it’s almost a cheat code for dialling up the emotional heft of a track, but it works every time.

Harkening back to their roots, Green Carnation often inhabit a certain ponderous, unhurried tempo range. However, on The Shores of Melancholia, the band tugs and pushes at the edges of their sound. The percussively driven “In Your Paradise” ticks up the pace with a markedly upbeat gait and lilting rhythmic interplay between Nordhus and the band, but “The Slave That You Are” pushes even further, with Grutle Kjellson (Enslaved) vituperatively spitting harsh vocals over blasting black metal undercurrents. Elsewhere, touches like the funky bass solo that opens “Me My Enemy” or the vintage-tinged keyboard passages scattered throughout the album further lean into the band’s progressive side, threading together a varied sound that remains distinctively identifiable as Green Carnation. 

While it might seem strange to praise the concision of a band best known for writing an hour-long song, Green Carnation have an excellent sense of pacing. The Shores of Melancholia’s 42 minutes are sure-footed and purposeful. Each of the album’s six tracks has ample space to breathe and establish its own identity without straying into indulgence. This thoughtful, almost modest construction is also reflected in the band members’ respective deliveries. Much as I praised Light of Day, Day of Darkness, Green Carnation thrive less as a platform for individual showboating than as a carefully balanced collective. Nordhus’s vocals remain central but never domineering, inhabiting the songs rather than towering above them. Similarly, Tchort’s lead guitar lines ring with lyrical poignance, always in service of a song’s broader trajectory. This measured balance allows The Shores of Melancholia to carry its weight with elegance, as both composition and delivery are dialled into a tight and cohesive whole.

That same sense of pacing and restraint that shapes The Shores of Melancholia as an album makes me curious to see the full realization of this three-part trilogy. As strong as the album is, no particular track or moment quite stands out enough to transcend the heights of Green Carnation’s finest work. I can’t help but speculate that The Shores of Melancholia may be meant as an opening statement rather than a definitive one—a first act that sets the stage for what’s to come in the Dark Poem trilogy. Whatever the case, Green Carnation are remarkable in their ability to craft albums that resonate with grace, grief, and gravitas, and I look forward eagerly to the next installments to come.

Recommended tracks: As Silence Took You, The Slave That You Are
You may also like: Throes of Dawn, October Falls, Subterranean Masquerade, Communic
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Season of Mist – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Green Carnation is:
– Kjetil Nordhus (vocals)
– Tchort (guitar)
– Bjørn Harstad (guitar)
– Stein Roger Sordal (bass)
– Endre Kirkesola (keyboards)
– Jonathan Alejandro Perez (drums)
With guests:
– Ingrid Ose (flute)
– Grutle Kjellson (vocals)
– Henning Seldal (percussion)