Style: progressive death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Amorphis, In Mourning, Ne Obliviscaris, Insomnium
Country: Denmark
Release date: 25 October 2024
I claimed Iotunn’s second album to review because I pretend to be a sophisticate with nuanced taste, but I have to admit that I’m a bit more sophomoric than that when it comes to progressive death metal. I like when singer man is melodramatic and double bass goes blast blast blast and solos go weedly. Full disclosure: I’m a bit of a Iotunn fanboy, and my rhapsodic review will reflect that. Iotunn is tailor made for my taste, and their cosmic blend of Opeth, Amorphis, and Insomnium (Winter’s Gate in particular) is breathtaking every time I spin Kinship. 2021’s Access All Worlds was one of the most impressive progressive metal debuts in recent memory, and it’s safe to say Kinship exceeds my hype for a follow up.
Anybody with a finger on the underground scene’s pulse knows the Faroese vocal juggernaut Jón Aldará (Barren Earth, Hamferð). His belts are bombastic and over-the-top dramatic, and his heavenly softer singing (on full display at the start of opening epic “Kinship Elegiac” or “I Feel the Night”) could lull a restless baby to sleep. Despite the standard progressive metal-length tracks and extended instrumental solo sections, Kinship always returns to an Aldará chorus, striking spoken word section (“Twilight”), or Akerfeldtian growl. He’s a golden talent, and Iotunn flaunt him. Even with a wicked instrumental contingent, the standout moments are nearly all choruses, an obvious rarity in death-tinged metal, but the hook of “Earth to Sky” hasn’t left my brain in a week.
I don’t mean to diminish the remarkable talents of the rest of the band, particularly brother guitar duo Jesper and Jens Nicolai Gräs. Their leads are as blazingly triumphant as Aldará’s, and their atmosphere building is in the upper echelon of metal bands. At 4:00 into lead single “Mistland,” for example, the two segue the chorus into an epic lead melody before blazing up a scale with heavy metal swagger—the solo in “The Coming End” is another stellar one. As for atmosphere building, the two often trading off with one brother playing spacious open chords, the other skating his way through tremolos or other little ornamentations. “Kinship Elegiac” has a Floydian edge near the end, and the transition to the slick prog rock influence is frisson-inducing. Similarly, closer “The Anguished Ethereal” takes a bit longer to get started than it needs to, but once it does its blackened edge makes it a fascinating closer and the most sinister work the band has done to date.
As I mentioned, Iotunn utilizes a longform songwriting style that just screams “Opethian prog!” yet they don’t forget lovely choruses or motifs, never drift aimlessly through their cosmic creations. Whereas my biggest criticism for Access All Worlds was that some songs didn’t earn their extended lengths, every song but “The Anguished Ethereal” and the pretty-but-with-little-substance ballad “Iridescent Way” DEMANDS its length on Kinship—the album earns its hour plus runtime. However, as on Access All Worlds, Kinship can come across as formulaic. Every song but “Iridescent Way” is a consistent mix of the blast beat-laden almost-power-metal choruses, the chiller Insomnium-esque death metal sections, and the rad solos. I never grow tired of them personally since every single time I have an eargasm and leave my body, but the repetition bears a mention. The easiest fix I can think of is to avoid the slower-paced 4/4 march in every track; Bjørn Wind Andersen is a talented drummer, whose fills and blast beats are impeccable, so surely he can play around in more interesting rhythms. Variation in time signatures may make Iotunn’s third album flawless.
It was exceedingly difficult to write this review because every sentence I wanted to write some onomatopoeia for a moaning sound. While I can step back and be a little critical, I truly adore everything about Kinship. In a year where few albums have truly wowed me, Iotunn saved the day, providing me with an absolutely awesome soundtrack for the final two months of 2024. Kinship is prog death at its finest, simply sublime.
Recommended tracks: Kinship Elegiac, Mistland, Twilight, Earth to Sky
You may also like: Barren Earth, Hamferð, Sunless Dawn, In Vain, Descend, Wilderun
Final verdict: 9/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Metal Blade Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Iotunn is:
– Jón Aldará (vocals)
– Jesper Gräs (guitars)
– Jens Nicolai Gräs (guitars)
– Bjørn Wind Andersen (drums)
– Eskil Rask (bass)
