Masters of doomed melodic death metal Insomnium is back with a brand new single "Lilian" and a new album Anno 1696 due out February 24. The album is centered around a short story by Insomnium bassist and vocalist Niilo Sevänen, while the new single is a beautifully driving track loaded with memorable melodies and a massive chorus only Insomnium can pull off at this point.
"Anno 1696 is a gateway into another world. This time around, Insomnium tells us a tale based on a short story by Niilo Sevänen, woven with sorrow and the last crumbling vestiges of hope, plus wrath and morbid lullabies. Welcome to 1696. Welcome to hell. This is an age of unrest. The age of great famine in the North.
"The witch hunt is in full swing all across Europe and the gruesome witch trials have even reached the remote and majestic landscapes of Finland and Sweden. 'The Torsåker witch trials were a horrible source of nightmarish inspiration,' Sevänen says of his ghastly muse. 'All that talk about 70 women beheaded in this small Swedish parish? It’s real stuff from history!' he groans. 'And as if that weren’t enough, there are also some very dark tales of cannibalism and child murder from the years of the great famine.' Stories don’t get any more metal than this."
Pre-orders for Anno 1696 are available here, which include a 2CD version featuring a bonus EP called Songs Of The Dusk. "We simply had eleven great songs, and we thought that this material is too good to be 'just' bonus tracks," said Sevänen. "They are part of the big story, so you can think of them as the director's cut material that tells a little extra. For those who want to have more."
