2025 marks the reawakening of The Man-Eating Tree.
Ten years after his latest release, guitarist Janne Markus (Poisonblack, ex-The Abbey) returns surrounded by Manne Ikonen (vocals, ex-Ghost Brigade), Sakke Paavola (guitar), Aksu Hanttu (drums, ex-Entwine, ex-S-Tool) and Mika “June” Junttila (bass, Mors Subita), signed to Noble Demon and unveils Night Verses, his fourth album.
The album kicks off with the dark softness of Night Verses, the eponymous introduction that leads into the heavy Days Under The Dark, where heaviness and airy melodies mingle while Manne lets us enjoy the duality of his vocals, sometimes even mixing clean vocals and backing vocals. The track takes a calmer break, then picks up again before Seer comes in and hits us with its jerky, energetic riffs, coupled with growls on the verses, only becoming more soothing on the soaring choruses before rubbing off on These Traces, which is relatively slow and reassuring. Even when saturation joins the band, the sound remains haunting and easily hypnotizes our keyboard-fogged minds. We continue with All Our Shadows, which offers brighter, almost playful touches at times, while the vocalist ventures into both extremes before letting the lead guitar gradually rekindle the flame. To The Sinking follows with a rather mysterious, melancholy sound that lasts for over three minutes before transforming into a chaotic, dissonant rhythm within which a wave of quietude appears, leading to the heady Ruins Of Insanity. The track is immediately more energetic, but stays within this rather murky, vaporous dynamic, as evidenced not only by the harmonics, but also by the backing vocals, which enhance the clean vocals before Abandoned buries us under its massive riffs. A few more streamlined passages allow us to breathe in this ocean of heaviness, before facing the depth of Reflections, the last track which is also by far the longest, and which prefers simple keyboard notes before bringing in additional sonorities and finally exploding and finally becoming very oppressive to close the album.
With the return of The Man-Eating Tree, Doom once again finds a fighter of choice to defend its colors. Night Verses will undoubtedly be one of the most appreciated releases of the year for many melancholy fans.
95/100