Hanging Garden - The Garden (2023)

Slowly inching their way into being one of the most exciting Gothic Death/Doom Metal bands in the scene, Hanging Garden returns with their latest full-length release “The Garden”. Featuring eleven expertly crafted tracks filled with melancholy and lush atmospherics alongside enchanting female vocals and a mixture of growls and clean male vocals. As huge fans of the genre, this release has that magical Theater of Tragedy “Aegis” vibe paired in with a modern sound and brilliant productions.

Opening with the crushing album title track, we get a slowly building piece with excellent heavy passages and a very solid dose of melancholy. Riikka Hatakka’s vocals have a certain Liv Kristine-esque vibe while unleashing unparalleled sweetness to a dark and somber mix as tracks like “The Four Winds”, “The Construct”, and “The Song of Spring” showcase. With each tracking having great melodic undertones, the songs in this release are both catchy and yet eerie and dark.

There are a wide variety of styles and tracks, with some pieces like “The Nightfall” leaning into more Gothic Metal territories, while “The Stolen Fire” has that Insomnium/Swallow The Sun-esque doomines. One of the things we love about this band is that they are not afraid to experiment, as “The Derelict Bay” has a funky darkwave/synthwave approach in this instrumental. However, the band is at their best with pieces like “The Fireside” which have all the staples of the genre.

In general, the band’s mixture of doomy and somber atmospheres alongside crafty songwriting and a wide variety of vocal stylings make “The Garden” a very engaging and satisfying release. Hanging Garden has slowly been evolving their sound and trying new things as they go along, at this stage their sound is very mature and well-balanced, delivering more of what works for the fans of the band and we love the band for that.

Label: Agonia Records

Release: March 24th, 2023

Genre: Gothic Death/Doom Metal

Country: Finland