Probing deeper into the rituals, beliefs, and existential concepts intrinsic to human nature, HANGING GARDEN continues the themes of their previous full-length of post-rockish melancholy and death-doom, “The Garden” (2023), with a new EP entitled “The Unending,” released on March 14th, 2025, via Agonia Records. As the opener’s title suggests, this 4-track offering is perfect music for the clarity of the moonlit sky – seductive and charming but also ready to lash out with brutal riffs when needed.
“To Seize the Night” sets things in motion with a brief, ominous, and cinematic intro that traverses a somewhat similar sonic terrain to CULT OF LUNA‘s recent endeavors – ambient synths, electronic beats, and guttural vocals. What follows is a little less sludgey but something closer to the Gothic doom of CEMETERY SKYLINE, PARADISE LOST, and the like, with some added gutturals. Having two vocalists, Riikka and Toni Hatakka, definitely works in the band’s favor; not only do they make good use of alternating between clean and harsh vocals but also between male and female vocals, and layering some nice vocal harmonies.
The next leg in the journey to the top of Mount Misery is aptly entitled “The Passage,” recalling “One Second”-era PARADISE LOST, probably because of the prominence of the synths. The band has flirted rather openly with synthetic textures and electronica before – “The Derelict Bay” from their previous album would be a rather haunting case in point – but it feels as though the synths fit the songs better on this new EP; or is it just because the overall songcraft has become so much more concise? These new songs slap harder!
And speaking of electronica, “Morgan’s Trail” is even more prominently driven by synths. I’m not sure who this Morgan character is whom the song refers to; I picked up the word, “Avalon,” from the lyrics, so she could be the enchantress from the King Arthur mythology, which would fit the EP’s nocturnal theme as the night is the time of the witches. The music does resonate with the air of a sonic spell, a profoundly melancholic one, but for me, this interpretation of mine makes some vague sense, so I’ll stick to it.
This nocturnal journey into the heart of HANGING GARDEN‘s sonic witchery is brought to a heart-churching close with the somewhat ALCEST-like closer, “The First Sunlight.” They say that the nighttime is the very time when the boundary between our physical realm and the world unseen becomes thin, to the point of becoming non-existent under the right circumstances. Perhaps, we need not get into the old-school folk magic by collecting dirt from the graveyard after dark; blasting this mighty EP after midnight might do the same trick. All we need to do is to embrace the stillness and listen to these magical melancholy incantations.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- To Seize the Night
- The Passage
- Morgan’s Trail
- The First Sunrise
Lineup
Mikko Kolari – guitars
Jussi Hämäläinen – guitars, backing vocals
Kimmo Tukiainen – guitars
Nino Hynninen – synths
Jussi Kirves – bass, Moog
Antti Ruokola – drums, programming
Riikka Hatakka – vocals
Toni Hatakka – vocals
Label
Agonia Records
