“Amare” is the third full-length album of Finnish one-woman doomgaze act SHEDFROMTHEBODY. At a glance, this new album appears to be a collection of songs about the dark, twisted fantasies and intrigues of love, delivered with a haunting mix of shoegaze, 1990s-tinted alternative rock, and ambient doom-metal aesthetic. Musically, it is similar to the sonic palette of her previous full-lengths “Dead and Aimless Hum” (2020) and “To Hold the Ripened Sun” (2021), as well as the two EPs, “Destruction / Breathing / Healing” and “Nude,” released in 2022, respectively. Released independently just before Christmas, on December 22nd, 2023, this latest installment in her catalog almost slipped past my radar entirely unnoticed. Now, after a few spins with this offering, I’m sure glad it didn’t! This is not exactly Christmas music, you know – more like the soundtrack music for The End of the World. Had I found this gem a bit earlier, it would have certainly made its way to my Best Albums of 2023 list! The thing is, that 2020 outing already set a solid footing in the pantheon of dark, ambient metal, alongside such greats as SYLVAINE, DARKHER, and IRESS, and this new endeavor further cements Suvi Saarikko, the woman behind this translucent sound of gloom, as a force to be reckoned with.
“Titania” opens the album with thick 1990s vibes, coming off like an exquisite lovechild of SLOWDIVE and THE SMASHING PUMPKINS. The shoegaze vibes obviously stem from the heavily reverberated, angelic vocals of Saarikko, and the alt.rock vibe probably oozes from the drum beat that has a good ounce of mid-1990s Jimmy Chamberlin about it. With the Tuska Festival 2023 experience still fresh in my memory, this ambient gloom also triggered pleasant flashbacks of the A.A. Williams slot there: it was raining cats and dogs outside the tent during her set, with the downpour adding an extra layer of gloom to the music. This opener also sounds as though diffusing through a thick haze arising from the embers of a burned-down world, just like I felt A.A. Williams‘ immersive and slow-crushing performance did.
Next up, “Coiled” introduces some novel nuances to Saarikko‘s signature craft. First, the music leans more heavily toward post-metal sound, with the riffs being probably the heaviest she has crafted so far. Then, the song also features guest vocals by Pigeonchild, with the choice of conduct being about harsh, sludgey growling. The heavy riffs and harsh vocals are balanced with a few well-placed ambient sections, yet the overall feel is poignantly heavy. Once again, the beauty lies in the contrast. This song brings forth the heaviest, almost CULT OF LUNA-heavy, and the lightest side of the album to the forefront.
After the first two tracks, I was already poised to dub this endeavor Saarikko‘s most mature and haunting to date, even though the album had not rolled out all of its aces. One of the absolute highlights is the third track, “Hush,” with its sense of ethereal melancholy that recalls the postrock-ish approach of the French proggers, KLONE, on their 2016 outing “Here Comes the Sun.” If you replaced their vocalist Yann Ligner with, say, Alison Goldfrapp‘s gossamer wailings on that particular album, you would get something very close to this beauty here.
Taking a detour back to the 1990s, “Air” unfolds as a somewhat post-punk-influenced riffer that sounds like THE CURE on steroids – or given the gloomy atmosphere on the album, on some horrible, dissociative drugs, more likely. Yeah, the vibe is perhaps closer to the meth-induced visions of late-1990s DEFTONES than the British goth-pop of yesteryear, after all. Then, kind of befittingly, the following song, “Kuchizuke” further pronounces the DEFTONES vibe by echoing the ethereal, free-floating ambiance of their 2010 song “Sextape.” At this point, it strikes me as awfully unfair that SHEDFROMTHEBODY isn’t getting more recognition – an artist of this caliber should be on everybody’s lips! I’m sure the fans of Myrkur and SYLVAINE would love this album!
The first five tracks comprise such a royal flush, that the next couple of tracks, “To Be Loved” and “Messiah” do not offer much surprises, although they are pretty banging tracks in their own right, don’t get me wrong. The closer, “Holy Soil,” in turn, ends this sonic journey on a high note. The gated synth, in particular, is a nice touch for an aging raver kid like me. For some reason, I get strong LACUNA COIL vibes and, since I happen to like them a lot, this brings a nice closure to this heart-churning trip. “Amare” is definitely one of the best albums 2023 had to offer, a darkly shaded fever dream that you kind of wish would never end.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Titania
- Coiled (feat. Pigeonchild)
- Hush
- Air
- Kuchizuke
- To Be Loved
- Messiah
- Holy Soil
Lineup
Suvi Saarikko – everything
Label
Independent
