Shadecrown - Solitarian

It is done I decided to spend part of the year in Finland, the country not only that of 1000 lakes but also of 1000 metal bands and as you will understand your humble servant will review an LP of a... Finnish band! Surprising, is not it?

There are so many talented bands over there that you could get lost! However, I am starting to find my way around in the end, my library includes albums from almost 200 Finnish bands and I am adding a new one: Shadecrown, a melodic death metal one, as you might expect, but with a hint of doom, which is far from to be a heresy. Shadecrown, created in 2012, is currently promoting their 3rd LP "Solitarian" which will be available, to all lovers and fans of the style, for mid September.

I listened with great attention this album and that is sure the band has taken a further step, the compositions are successful and this little side sometimes slow reinforces the poetry and the power that emerge from them. Add to that a gifted vocalist, endowed with a beautiful organ with a lot of bass power and some clean voice passages, and you have something that deserves more than the label of interesting. The changes of rhythms within certain compositions are not foreign to the attraction which emerges from this album.

Here, we are in a musical register which gives pride of place to melancholy and harmonies releasing a lot of sensibilities. Certainly less technical and faster than a song from Mors Principium Est. the fact remains that the alchemy of musical lines intertwines with great happiness.

Apart from some underground black metal bands where poor quality sound seems to be a standard label in the eyes of some, no worries here, it is Finnish and so it sounds right! Turn up the volume, not only will you have fun but you will educate your neighbours about what real music is!

Small detail, for the live performances, the keyboardist has a keyboard guitar and therefore he comes more into the light even if he is the main composer of the all tracks.

In addition, the rhythm of the productions: 3 LP and 1 EP is more than synonymous with creativity which does not spoil anything and adds to the interest to bring to this band! If the musical productions and the creative performances remain at the same level or even increase again for the next opus, it goes without saying that the international stages will open to them quickly.

This is how I invite all possible fans of the style not to miss this album, and yet I will just make a reservation, not on the quality of the whole of the LP but on the future expectations that it will raise, the bar is high, we will have to assume it and not lower its level. However, maturity comes with age, so no doubts are allowed. Otherwise, a nugget the song 'Solitarian' which gave its name to the album and which sends you into the 7th dimension for 15 minutes! But yes, a quarter of an hour of assumed musical enjoyment. In fact this this track is the summary of what Shadecrown is in my eyes actually at this time.

Thank you to the band for this great discovery because I was waiting for the continuation of the previous LP, which had left me with some uncertainties, thank you also to my boss who knows my musical addiction.

Line Up
Jari Hokka: Vocals
Tomi Tikka: Guitar
Joonas Vesämaki: Guitar
Saku Tammelin: Keyboards
Janne Salmelin: Bass, clean vocals
Kalle Varonen: Drums

4 / 5 STARS


1. The Awakening
2. Dark Heart Replica
3. Momentary Trails
4. Slivers
5. The Loss
6. Aeon's Still
7. Crestfallen
8. Solitarian