Hanging Garden – Skeleton Lake
Release Date: 21st May 2021
Label: Lifeforce Records
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Genre: Gothic, Doom.
FFO: Katatonia, Paradise Lost.
Review By: Lucas Di Mascio
I find it very difficult to find quality doom/gothic metal that compares to the “standards” of Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun and Katatonia. While there are a few bands that reach that level of quality, they are few and far between and rarely hit consistently with each release. Truth be told I think this sub genre has always been more one of the niche sub genres in music, with many of it’s artists only releasing a few records spread out across years before finally fizzling out without much fanfare. That said I’m not sure why I haven’t come across Hanging Garden before because they are the perfect blend of everything I adore about Paradise Lost and Katatonia while still remaining fresh and unique. A big part of what helps them stand out are the vocal arrangements. Riikka Hatakka brings a softer edge to the dreary soundscapes that makes up a lot of Hanging Garden’s sound, whereas Toni Hatakka and Jussi Hamalainen’s clean vocals are more reminiscent of the softness of Jonas Renkse’s voice from Katatonia. At times I thought Paradise Lost’s frontman, Nick Holmes, was singing on some songs!
As expected with this genre, Hanging Garden have mastered the dynamics in their sound. Going from softer, clean guitar driven verses with softer vocal performances before bringing on the layers of dissonant yet melodic guitar melodies on top of a wall of distorted rhythm guitars and more in-your-face vocals. There’s a nice blend of clean vocals, growls and female vocals- every song remains interesting because of this and while there are definitely stand out tracks on the album, even the ones that didn’t seem as memorable as others didn’t detract from the overall atmosphere that the band crafted with Skeleton Lake. The band isn’t afraid to experiment, and there is something on each song that doesn’t sound like it would work on paper for a band of this style, but it clicks once you hear it. They sing through what I think is a vocoder in a section of the opening track Kuura- a song which is already filled with diverse vocal performances, and I can’t recall a time when I’ve heard that on a metal record. There are some great clean guitar leads that close out the heavy hitter single, Winter Kiss, which also had me singing along by the end.
Songs in this genre tend to be bloated and I didn’t feel that at all with this release- nothing is longer than seven or eight minutes and the song structures are all consciously written to get to the point of what the band does well. I do feel that this album is a bit of a grower however. While some songs like Road of Bones, Winter’s Kiss, and Kuura hit me right away, there were a couple of instances where some songs just didn’t have the same impact and just kind of blended in with the other tracks on the album. After a few other listens I felt that the album was definitely something that should be listened to in its entirety- the “weaker” songs still have their place in the album as a whole even if they can’t stand on their own. If anything this album has made me a fan of the band and I’m currently delving into their back catalog to catch up with what I’ve missed out on all these years! 
(4 / 5)
