Hands up if you remember Finland’s Fall of the Leafe?
Boy, I sure do. My first exposure was 2002’s Fermina, a transitional album that saw the band move away from the melodic death/black metal of their first two efforts (Evanescent, Everfading in 1998, and August Wernicke in 1999) into more progressive, gothic pastures.
Fermina introduced the world to the clean vocals of Tuomas Tuominen, who up to that point had used some standard rasps and growls, but to this day his svelte tones remain some of the best clean singing in metal I’ve ever heard. However, the band split up in 2007 after Aerolithe. You can still hear Tuominen on his darkwave rock project, Wait, Stone & Sure (which also features Hänninen).
But around 2019-2021, Fall of the Leafe guitarist Jussi Hänninen formed two new projects: the death/doom band The Bleak Picture, with vocalist Tero Ruohonen, and Autumfall, also with Ruohonen and drummer Olli Pirkkanen. Hänninen has released three self released albums under the Autumnfall name, but until now I was completely unaware of the project’s existence. That has been rectified immediately, as all of Autumnfall‘s albums are now in my possession.
Astute readers and Fall of the Leafe fans will recognize Autumnfall from the name of the first Fall of the Leafe demo, and while unfortunately Tuominen is not here, Hänninen and his immediately recognizable dancing, shimmering layered riffs are back, as Autumnfall returns to the early, more raw days of Fall of the Leafe, (most of these songs were written in 1998-2001) and adds more polished and elegant melodic and symphonic black metal.
Phew, sorry for that long-winded intro, but Christ, this brings back memories. While in The Bleak Picture the sound is more traditional Rapture-ish Finnish death/doom, here, Hänninen’s sumptuous, unique riffs instantly bring you back to the band’s early Evanescent… and August Wernicke days, and even Fermina. Just with black and death metal vocals from Ruohonen.
Listen, every note here is just exquisite, and no one creates and plays riffs quite like Hänninen (early Dark Tranquility’s Skydancer, and Of Chaos and Eternal Night are the nearest comparisons), even when delivered in a slightly more aggressive style.
From the opening piano tinkling of “The Halo in Utopia”, with its uniquely Hänninen-styled flourishes, the haughty layers and leads of “Lightless Depths”, the elegant blast beats of “Dark Goddess”, the death/doom stomp of “Mists of Eternity”, and shimmering “Crystal Skies” to the surprisingly fierce “Pulse”, and gorgeous closer ‘The Timeless Kin”, the whole album could be August Wernicke meets Fermina, just sped up, more keyboards and with harsh vocals instead of clean singing (I mean listen to “The Blind Brother”).
How I never came across this project until their third album is staggering, but I’m glad I did and will definitely keep tabs on this band as well as The Bleak Picture.
