Rioghan – Different Kind of Losses
Release Date: 9th December 2022
Label: Inverse Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal, Alternative Metal.
FFO: Katatonia, Leprous, Red Eleven, Celesty.
Review By: Mark Waight
Different Kind of Losses is the debut album from Finnish rising star and solo sensation Rioghan (Jenni Peramaki) and made in collaboration with Teemu Liekkala (guitars, keyboards, bass and production), Valtteri Revonkorpi (drums) and a whole host of other musical talents.
Different Kind of Losses is a beautifully blended cocktail of Gothic, Progressive and Alternative Metal to really whet your appetite for more musical poetry and storytelling from the very talented Rioghan in the future.
First track, Sight, is a gloriously gloomy affair that starts with a poetry verse opening before bursting into a beautiful melancholy soundtrack with lovely dark vocals. The ferocity increases with Promises; a much heavier track with a pulsing deep bass and some impressive snarly vocals, intertwined around clear gothic vocals. Breath opens gently with some soft guitars and vocals before the intensity heats up to a very haunting finish. It’s a great display of contrasting tones, and highlights some real tight musicianship within the band.
Next up is Home, with its very subtle piano-heavy background, coupled with a progressive riff laden foreground to create an authentic Gothic musical arrangement. Bruises pushes into slightly more dark electro territory with a very modern and progressive feel to it. Vocally, this is my favourite track, with the growls giving it a sharper cutting edge that will stick in your mind.
Acoustic track, Time, shows a totally different and softer side to Rioghan with an almost pop feel about it. It sits perfectly on the album next to Innocence, which continues the softer theme, but this time the vocals are higher, and the speed picks up a notch or two.
Reflection is much more of a full-on hard-hitting metal track that takes us right back into the depths of despair with some awesome low-end djenty guitars and gritty screaming vocals. Penultimate track, Lights, made me think of a dark and Gothic version of Amy Winehouse with its fabulous vocal variations of tone and intensity. I loved it!
Curtain closer, Summer, is a slow-burning track where additional vocal harmonies from Tony Kaikkonen give a bit more depth to the sound and helps draw the album to a fitting finale.
Musically, Different Kinds of Losses by Rioghan is superb, with so many different variations and styles, demonstrating the band have much to offer in lots of different genres. There is something for everyone on Different Kinds of Losses and certain tracks should appeal to people right across the music spectrum, so hats off to Rioghan with their first musical outing, of which I hope there will be many others to follow.
(3.5 / 5)
