The DevilsHorns

Describing themselves as a melodic death metal band, with indie rock and doom influences is fairly apt. Finland’s, The Bleak Picture, throughout their 2^nd full length album, Shades of Life, deliver a delightful haunting listen that belies its mournful approach.

The first of the 7 tracks starts with a guitar tone that strikes you as ‘immediate’. It kicks in, supported by underlying keys and a rumbling bass. Vocally, the grunts of Tero Ruohonen impress as the song sets a relatively high bar. It is a good start.

left with a really quite enjoyable experiences, with spoken word sections and a fuzzy guitar tone that loiters like the proverbial ‘bad smell’. The Bleak Picture manage to mix things up in the first 2 tracks, interesting!

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Shades of Life is the atmosphere that is created across the 45 minutes or so. The excellent ‘Code of Ethics’ exemplifies this, with vocals similar to fellow Finnish band Omnium Gatherum. Gruff, yet distinguishable melodic death metal vocals are always a good thing and should be encouraged.

A few of the tracks have effective melodic vocals, well-placed, leading to an album that is both thoughtfully structured and presented. It is this approach that allows Shades of Life to warrant a place in your head, as you hum riffs and air-guitar the odd solo.

There are a few inevitable quibbles, but nothing that really brings you down. You may as well fire into a listen or 2 and find out for yourself how good an album The Bleak Picture have released.

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