NEWS: Insomnium follow the Witch Hunter?

Treading a tightrope between sadness and anger, between silent desperation and cries of anguish, trying to reach that fading light that still glimmers from beyond the trees, “Anno 1696” is said to be the most ambitious work of Insomnium. The meloncholic masters have in store for us a tragedy of Greek proportions which Century Media will distribute on 24th February with third single and music video for ‘The Witch Hunter‘ now available for your viewing pleasure.

Guitarist Markus Vanhala comments about the track: “This is a good example of a song growing and finding its own wings during the studio process. This one definitely has a cinematic feel; the storyline needs the essence of journey moving forward. In fact, I made a Finnish vocal demo for this one, reading and screaming Niilo’s storyline, but only the name stayed and translated from “Noidanmetsästäjä” to English. But that’s another story and a secret version never to be found by outsiders.”

Bassist and vocalist Niilo Sevänen adds: “This is Markus Vanhala’s composition; it actually does not really sound like the archetypal Insomnium song and has some very interesting elements. One of the songs that improved the most in the studio in my opinion – and became one of the singles. Lyrically it continues to tell the story from the witch hunter’s point of view”

Guitarist Ville Friman concludes: “For me, this song has a really strong cinematic feel to it, and I can easily travel into the story in my head when I close my eyes”

“The Torsåker witch trials were a horrible source of nightmarish inspiration,” Sevänen says of his ghastly muse. “All that talk about 70 women beheaded in this small Swedish parish? It’s real stuff from history! And as if that weren’t enough, there are also some very dark tales of cannibalism and child murder from the years of the great famine.”