Mindlane Unspoken Silence

Mindlane was formed in April 2016 in Skepplanda, just outside of Gothenburg. Joonas Niskanen (One Without), guitars, Reine Svensson (Outshine) on vocals and Hannu Mäkelä (Characters) on drums are the three members that form the band. They invited Andreas Solveström (ex- Amaranthe) for the brutal screams. The style on this album is not the regular stuff I would review or listen to at home, but when the band asked where to send a promo, I thought I give it a try. Bands without a label, working hard and releasing an album should not be ignored.

The music is a combination of atmospheric, melancholic gothic parts, combined with aggressive riffs, harsh/grunting vocals with influences of djent and metalcore. Reine Svennson has a warm timbre in his voice and during the softer easier listening parts the band has some Katatonia influences. The songs have nice melodies and are rather easy to listen to, it doesn’t take me long to get used to them. Fortunately the band added enough heavy distorted riffs reminding a bit of Meshuggah, otherwise it would have all sounded a bit too mellow. The songs are all a bit in the same (rather slow) tempo, which does make it a bit boring for me after a few tracks. With some nice grooves in several songs they compensate a lot, but still can not convince me completely.

Sure not a bad album for a debut, just not exactly my cup of tea, but that doesn’t make it a bad album. Those of you liking melancholic, atmospheric, gothic parts combined with groovy, aggressive djent pieces and a tiny progressive touch should take a listen. The teaser below can help you to find out if this is what you like, it gives a rather good short representation of what to expect.

01. Liars Crown
02. Beyond Today
03. Weakness Within
04. Said and Done
05. Beloved Screen
06. Accept the Silence
07. Outside Your Blindfold Eyes
08. Always the Same Story
09. Impatience
10. We Learn the Hard Way
11. Heroes in Denial