Insomnium

Finnish melodic death metal band

Insomnium

Insomnium performing at Party.San 2017

Background information
Origin| Joensuu, Finland
Genres| Melodic death metal
Years active| 1997 (1997)–present
Labels|

* Candlelight
* Century Media

Members|

* Niilo Sevänen
* Ville Friman
* Markus Vanhala
* Markus Hirvonen
* Jani Liimatainen

Past members|

* Tapani Pesonen
* Timo Partanen
* Ville Vänni

Website| www.insomnium.net

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland. The sound and lyrical themes of their music portray darkness, sorrow, loss, pain, and nature. They are primarily a melodic death metal band with occasional elements of doom metal and progressive metal.

## History[edit]

On 9 September 2011 Insomnium released the music video "Through the Shadows" from their 2011 album, One for Sorrow.[1]

In November, 2011 Insomnium embarked on their first headlining European tour with support from Before the Dawn and MyGRAIN.[2] During April, 2012 Insomnium returned to tour the U.K. as the main support act for British gothic metal band, Paradise Lost. Vreid was also present on the tour as a supporting opening act.

On 19 September 2013 Insomnium released "Ephemeral," a single from their foreshadowed 2014 album, Shadows of the Dying Sun, via Century Media Records. It is the first track to feature new guitarist, Markus Vanhala (Omnium Gatherum), who replaced Ville Vänni in 2011.[3]

On 29 April 2014 Insomnium released their sixth studio album, Shadows of the Dying Sun. On 30 April 2014 they made a guest appearance on Epica's CD release show at 013 in the Netherlands.

On 19 May 2016, Insomnium announced their seventh studio album, Winter's Gate to be released on 23 September. It is a concept album consisting of a single epic 40-minute track, and it is said to be about "a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west of Ireland, despite the treacherous winter drawing near."[4] This album was based on the short story by Niilo, "Winter's Gate", or "Talven Portti" in the original Finnish. This story won or was nominated for many Finnish awards.[5]

In 2019, they announced their eighth album, Heart Like a Grave, would be released on 4 October 2019. With the album announcement they also confirmed that the guitarist Jani Liimatainen had joined the band as a full-time member, as he had occasionally filled in for Ville Friman on tours since 2015.[6]

Insomnium released a new EP, titled Argent Moon, on September 17, 2021.[7] Simultaneously, they talked about plans for an upcoming ninth studio album to be released in 2022.[8] In 2022, they announced their ninth album, Anno 1696, would be released on 24 February 2023. Like Winter's Gate, the album is based on a short story by Niilo.[9]

## Members[edit]

### Current members[edit]

* Niilo Sevänen − bass, harsh vocals (1997−present)
* Ville Friman − guitars (1997−present), clean vocals (2011−present)
* Markus Hirvonen − drums (1997−present)
* Markus Vanhala − guitars (2011−present)
* Jani Liimatainen − guitars, clean vocals (2019−present, touring 2015−2019)

### Former members[edit]

* Tapani Pesonen − drums, guitars (1997−1998)
* Timo Partanen − guitars (1998−2001)
* Ville Vänni − guitars (2001−2011)

### Touring members[edit]

* Nick Cordle − guitars (2022)
* Mike Bear - vocals,bass (2015)

### Timeline[edit]

## Discography[edit]

### Studio albums[edit]

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions  Title  | Details  | Peak chart positions

|
|

FIN
[10] | AUT
[11] | BEL (FL)
[12] | BEL (WA)
[13] | FRA
[14] | GER
[15] | JPN
[16] | SWI
[17]
In the Halls of Awaiting |

* Released: 30 April 2002
* Label: Candlelight
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
Since the Day It All Came Down |

* Released: 4 May 2004
* Label: Candlelight
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
Above the Weeping World |

* Released: 17 October 2006
* Label: Candlelight
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
Across the Dark |

* Released: 7 September 2009
* Label: Candlelight
* Formats: CD, CD+DVD, LP, DL

| 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
One for Sorrow |

* Released: 18 October 2011
* Label: Century Media
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 6 | — | — | — | — | 95 | — | —
Shadows of the Dying Sun |

* Released: 29 April 2014
* Label: Century Media
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 2 | 38 | — | — | 178 | 18 | 287 | 23
Winter's Gate |

* Released: 23 September 2016
* Label: Century Media
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 1 | 27 | 124 | 92 | 184 | 19 | — | 17
Heart Like a Grave |

* Released: 4 October 2019
* Label: Century Media
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 1 | — | 154 | 115 | 178
[18] | 10 | — | 15
Anno 1696 |

* Released: 24 February 2023
* Label: Century Media
* Formats: CD, LP, DL

| 1
[19] | 15 | 165 | — | — | 5 | — | 10
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

### Singles[edit]

List of singles  Title  | Details

|

"Where the Last Wave Broke"  |

* Released: 24 August 2009
* Label: Candlelight

"Weather the Storm"[20] |

* Released: 25 April 2011
* Label: Century Media

"Ephemeral"[21] |

* Released: 23 September 2013
* Label: Century Media

"While We Sleep"[22] |

* Released: 8 April 2014
* Label: Century Media

"The Conjurer"[23] |

* Released: 19 March 2021
* Label: Century Media

"The Reticent"[24] |

* Released: 21 May 2021
* Label: Century Media

### Demos[edit]

* Demo 1999 (1999)
* Underneath the Moonlit Waves (2000)

### EPs[edit]

* Ephemeral (2013)
* Argent Moon (2021)

## References[edit]

1. ^ "New Video - Insomnium- Through The Shadows". Metal CallOut. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
2. ^ "INSOMNIUM | News". 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
3. ^ "Insomnium: New Song 'Ephemeral' Released". Blabbermouth.net. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
4. ^ "INSOMNIUM To Release 'Winter's Gate' Album, Book In September". Blabbermouth.net. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
5. ^ "Insomnium To Release 'Winter's Gate' Album, Book In September - Blabbermouth.net". 19 May 2016.
6. ^ Hartmann, Graham. "Insomnium Announce New Album 'Heart Like a Grave'". Loudwire. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
7. ^ "Insomnium - Release 'The Antagonist' Song, Announce EP". Metal Storm. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
8. ^ "Insomnium - To Release Ninth Studio Album Next Year". Metal Storm. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
9. ^ Greg Kennelty (4 November 2022). "INSOMNIUM Streams "Lilian," Announces New Record Anno 1696". Metal Injection. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
10. ^ "Discography Insomnium". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
11. ^ "Discographie Insomnium". austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
12. ^ "Discografie Insomnium". ultratop.be (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
13. ^ "Discographie Insomnium". ultratop.be (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
14. ^ "lescharts.com - Discographie At The Gates". lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
15. ^ "Discographie von Insomnium". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
16. ^ "インソムニウムのアルバム売上ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
17. ^ "Discographie Insomnium". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
18. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 41, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 21 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
19. ^ "Albumit 9/2023". Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
20. ^ "Insomnium - Weather the Storm (Digital Single)". Century Media Records. Retrieved 22 September 2015.[permanent dead link]
21. ^ "Insomnium - Ephemeral (Digital single)". Century Media Records. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
22. ^ "Insomnium - While We Sleep". Century Media Records. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
23. ^ "Century Media Records - Insomnium: : Release Single & Video To "The Conjurer"". www.centurymedia.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
24. ^ "Insomnium - The Reticent". Century Media Records. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Insomnium.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Insomnium

* Niilo Sevänen
* Ville Friman
* Markus Hirvonen
* Markus Vanhala
* Jani Liimatainen

* Tapani Pesonen
* Timo Partanen
* Ville Vänni

Studio albums|

* In the Halls of Awaiting (2002)
* Since the Day It All Came Down (2004)
* Above the Weeping World (2006)
* Across the Dark (2009)
* One for Sorrow (2011)
* Shadows of the Dying Sun (2014)
* Winter's Gate (2016)
* Heart Like a Grave (2019)
* Anno 1696 (2023)

Authority control

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat Identities

National|

* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* IdRef

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