Vanha
Melancholia

Melancholia is the name of album number two for the Swedish band called Vanha. It is an album that has a great album cover and looks very melancholic, perhaps that is due to the fact that the duo has been halved with the drummer leaving only Johansson to do everything when it comes to the recording. His finished product was released in the last days of 2018, and it is a six-track album with a playing time of about 46 minutes.

We get to explore darkness and melancholy with the fantasy of an eternal sleep, a time without worries in this new album. And we do that in what is probably best described as a doom metal album, with a very melancholic style with strong atmospheres, lots of depth and vocals that are both growled and clean. The tempo is often quite low and sometimes it is very quiet but it always seems to move forward and I think it is an album with lots of depth. Compared with the debut that I reviewed in the early days of 2017 I would say that this album is similar in style but probably slightly better in every area. It is quite hypnotic to listen to the album that I think grabs my attention and keeps me listening for the entire playing time.

It is a quite impressive album with really good songs and excellent atmosphere, who doesn’t like a refreshing boost of melancholy in their life? There are no weaknesses on this album, the music is captivating and the greyish depth is excellent. I think all the songs are really powerful and good but perhaps that the second track Storm of Grief is the one that I like the best, but that is with a narrow margin. I think that this is an album very well worth checking out as it is a really enjoyable one to listen to, and I can also add that it is a good step forward compared with the debut album that I wrote positively about two years ago. Another thing worth mentioning is that it is a one-man project in the death/doom genre that actually turned out really good; in my experience those usually tend to fall really flat on the face and be really poor albums.

Melancholia is a great and enjoyable album and I can recommend that you check it out; it will certainly be worth both time and effort. The worst thing I can see right now is that it doesn’t come in vinyl format, which is a shame as this cover would look rather fantastic in that format and I would probably buy it if it came in that format but I guess I will have to make due with the digital album for now. So, with all that said I could only say that you don’t need to wait any longer, just go check out this terrific album.

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