INSOMNIUM 2017 “Winter’s Gate” Asia Tour Rel
ease Dateptember
Out of the cold seas, out of the endless night rises the new tour de force of northern magic: “Winter’s Gate”, the seventh studio album of Finland’s melodic metal conjurers INSOMNIUM. A bold concept album ventures into yet unknown dark territories as it consists of one epic 40-minute song that is forged around an award-winning short story written by the band’s vocalist & bassist Niilo Sevänen.
After their most successful album to date, “Shadows of the Dying Sun” (2014), the band wanted to challenge themselves and create something that hadn’t been done before. During an autumnal rehearsal session, when the storm was raging outside the small seaside cabin, Sevänen, Ville Friman (guitar & vocals), Markus Vanhala (guitar) and Markus Hirvonen (drums) sipped some well-deserved wine and talked about future endeavors while listening to Edge of Sanity’s classic “Crimson” album. From this nightly session an idea of a long, meandering song was born. This was soon bound together with a story that Sevänen had already written almost ten years ago; “Winter’s Gate” was to become an album and a book, released in the same package. Thus the ambitious project started.
“Winter’s Gate” short story draws inspiration from history and the rich Scandinavian mythology. “It’s a tale of a group of grim Vikings who set out to find a fabled island northwest from Ireland – even though the winter is already drawing near. The three narrators pull the reader in to follow the unfolding of the story from different perspectives”, Sevänen comments. In 2007 the story won the Nova short story contest and in 2008 it was chosen as the fourth best story in fantasy & sci-fi genre in Finland in Atorox awards. The story is released now together with the album in luxurious art book size, also including the full story as an audio book read by Niilo Sevänen himself, and in three languages: Finnish, English and German. Imposing illustrations are done by the Finnish artist Teemu Tähkänen. The Gatefold LP+CD will contain a booklet featuring the story in all three languages as well and the album on vinyl and CD, while the Jewelcase CD version comes with an extended booklet including the full story in English and the “Winter’s Gate” album on CD.
Musically “Winter’s Gate” immerses deeply into stirring abysses of melancholy, but as it’s the case with every INSOMNIUM album, new elements are brought in to widen the spectrum. The band has always had their own unique way of making melodic death metal but now they are venturing deep into the realms of doom, progressive and black metal. All the varying elements are woven together into one captivating opus that follows the dramatic arc of the story. It’s a rich album full of different atmospheres and emotions; full of overwhelming, gut-wrenching and masterfully crafted music.
Majestic keyboards were once again created by Swallow the Sun’s Aleksi Munter who has been the mercenary synth wizard for INSOMNIUM since “Above the Weeping World” (2006). The album was recorded in a same manner as its predecessor, in the studios of Teemu Aalto and Kimmo Perkkiö. For the mixing and mastering there was really only one candidate: Dan Swanö of Unisound Studio, best known as the vocalist in Edge of Sanity. The one man who knows something about metal creations of epic proportions.
“I loved mixing this album. I never expected the band to go so far out of their comfort zone and create such a progressive (in the true sense of the word!) masterpiece! I am a longtime fan of one track albums (having done 2 myself) and this one will certainly fight its way, Viking style, into the ‘One track albums Hall of Fame ‘. Sometimes while mixing it, I got the vibe that they had been drinking to some kind of strange brew made from the ashes of all the albums I mixed in the 90's while writing this extreme metal symphony!”, Dan comments.
“Winter’s Gate” is a crowning achievement for a band that has evolved impressively since their foundation in the Finnish university city of Joensuu back in 1997. These metalhead schoolmates were drawing inspiration from the blooming Scandinavian melodic death metal scene of the 90’s and the band quickly found its own unique way of combining melancholy and fierceness with multifaceted lyrics. From those days the only direction for INSOMNIUM was to go steadily up and forward: album by album – from their 2002 debut “In the Halls Of Awaiting” via “Since The Day It All Came Down” (2004), “Above The Weeping World” (2006) and “Across The Dark” (2009) through to their Century Media debut “One for Sorrow” (2011) and “Shadows of the Dying Sun” (2014) – they’ve gained an ever higher status. And tour by tour the passionate musicians edged their way to the very top of the scene and have by now become the spearhead of melodic death metal.
A sudden case of serious illness in Sevänen’s family forced the band to make drastic decisions in the autumn of 2015 and for example cancel one tour altogether. Since then things have progressed well, and while the band has only done festivals and short trips during this year they are now ready to get back to touring again after the release of “Winter’s Gate”. Playing the mammoth song live will be an interesting challenge that the band is really looking forward to.
So brace yourselves and tighten your cloaks. Once the gates will be opened the cold breeze will spread to every corner of the land. And the winter will come.


ORPHEUS OMEGA （Guest Band）
Orpheus Omega (formerly Orpheus) was founded in 2008, initially as a side project by Chris Themelco and Joao Gancalves. Shortly after the idea was spawned Matt Themelco, Adam ‘Milky’ Adams, and Sasha Braganca joined the band and Orpheus Omega took shape.
After releasing their E.P, ‘So It Begins’ in 2009, their unique take on the Melodic Death Metal genre and immersive live shows had seen the band gain much momentum, with their music spreading across Australian shores and beyond.
After many shows and much critical acclaim, the band released their long awaited debut album, ‘Bleed The Way’ through Rockstar Records in early 2011. The album was the culmination of two years of extensive gigging and writing to perfect their sound and create an album set to please any fan of heavy riff laden and keyboard driven death metal. In 2011, keyboardist Sasha, left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by current member Keswick Gallagher who bought his own unique style to the fray.
The new line up was personally selected as the national support act for Amon Amarth’s 2012 Australian tour by the band and management. The band was praised for their stellar live shows across the tour and gained many new fans therein.
Orpheus Omega then released a self-produced Live DVD after many requests, capturing their live energy and showmanship on film. The DVD was accepted and praised highly from international fans as well as the local fanbase which lead the band to open for Alestorm and Eluveitie in Melbourne.
On May 4th 2013, Orpheus Omega released their sophomore album, ‘ResIllusion’ (res-illusion) through Rockstar Records (AU, NZ) , Amputated Vein (Japan) and iTunes globally.
Aggressive riffing, melodic passages and chaotic leadwork matched by intricate and destructive drum and bass grooves and blasts. With intricate and catchy, but never over the top or cheesy Keyboards, the music is carefully complimented by a diverse vocal performance where the end result is a unique and fresh take on the genre and an album that represents Orpheus Omega perfectly.Unfortunately a day before the launch of ResIllusion, the band suffered the tragic loss of Bassist and good friend Adam ‘Milky’ Adams. Instead of throwing in the towel, the band decided to forge onward in honor of MIlky and all the hard work that had gone into the band before. The band later recruited Bassist Nathan Mesiti, joining before the writing process of Partum Vita Mortem.
Since the release of 2013′s acclaimed ‘ResIllusion’, ORPHEUS OMEGA have cemented themselves as one of Melodic Death Metal’s most promising newcomers. After a slew of support slots with Dark Tranquillity, Children Of Bodom, Korpiklaani, Eluveitie and more, followed by a 2 week headlining tour of Asia, the band are now ready to unleash their 3rd album, ‘Partum Vita Mortem’, a concept album exploring the human condition through Birth, Life and Death across an hour of unrelenting musicianship. Featuring aggressive and melodic guitar work, intricate and powerful drumming, chaotic keyboard work and a varied array of vocal stylings, the album is sure to become a staple in modern Melodic Death Metal.



Shanghai: 2017/05/14, 8:30pm
Shanghai MAO Livehouse
308 Chongqing Nan Rd, 3rd floor (near Jianguo Zhong Rd.),Huangpu District
010-62159844 / 021-64450086
Presale: 200RMB / At door: 260RMB


Shenzhen: 2017/05/16, 8:30pm
B10 Livehouse
North of Building C2, North Zone, Overseas Chinese Town
Creative Culture Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen
Tel: 010-62159844 / 0755-86337602
Pesale: 180 RMB / At-Door: 240RMB