#hanginggarden — Public Fediverse posts

When Lord Heikkinen formed Soulgrind in 1992, it was a rough and raw solo death/doom band. He released two EPs and two LPs between 1993 and 1995 for the now-defunct Malodorous Mangled Innards Records before deciding to invite some band members along for the ride. This would drastically alter Soulgrind’s musical direction towards gothic black/thrash, a decision likely influenced by the introduction of vocalist Tanya Lilith. Lilith and Lord Heikkinen remain the only current band members from the 1997 record, Whitsongs, as long-time drummer and sometimes vocalist Agathon “The Beast” sadly passed away in 2022 from cancer. Soulgrind experimented with harsh vocalists until settling on keyboardist Azhemin in 2001, though they still incorporated a vocalist committee for some time. In 2010, Soulgrind released their ninth full-length album, The Tuoni Pathway, before suddenly disappearing. It took sixteen years until they finally found the time and inspiration to release their tenth album, Ad Pulchram Mortem.1

Soulgrind has seen a significant evolution in their sound since the beginnings of their life as a gothic act. Their early material was raw and evil-sounding, with demo-level production quality. The blackened rasps from Lord Heikkinen and Caesar McLaulone were sometimes grating,2 yet there’s no denying a hunger and passion in their music. The early 2000s felt like a period where Soulgrind were trying to figure themselves out, with some inconsistency in identity from release to release. Then something clicked in 2007 with the release of Pakana, and the music grew more cohesive as it began to revolve around Lilith’s melodic touch. The Tuoni Pathway would see this direction improved before Soulgrind’s lengthy hiatus. Ad Pulchram Mortem brings about a mix of the old and the new, continuing the melodic direction of the last two records while still including some of the rough blackened touches of the older material. This sounds like a veteran group that hasn’t lost an edge of its passion despite the long hiatus.

Ad Pulchram Mortem contains gothic touches resembling fellow Helsinki natives Hanging Garden and the melodic black metal of Sojourner. They dabble in thrash on the likes of “Jylhä Metsämies” and “A Whispered Curse Upon the Gale,” as well as Paradise Lost-style death/doom on the terrific “The Origin of the White Serpent.” The deep, grizzled blackened growls of Azhemin delve into a darkness and ugliness that bring a harsh edge to the music—sometimes at the risk of putting off listeners. Soulgrind occasionally gets weird, such as on the sinister “In the Circus of Tuonela,” yet typically the weirdness is offset by the melodic and catchy choruses from Lilith, as exemplified by “Tears of the Earth.” The duo of Lilith and Azhemin proves a boon, as she serves as the foil of beauty to his beast. Her emotionally charged cleans lift the spirits and act as a soothing balm. This culminates in an outpouring of passion and melody on finale, “Into the Shadows of Devotion,” that is simply jaw-dropping.

For a band with a sixteen-year gap between releases, there is, understandably, still some rust to shake out—in this case, struggles with consistency and length. The record generally works better when Lilith is singing, and she sometimes rescues songs that are otherwise just okay, such as “Tears of the Earth” and “As a Narrow Fjord Descends.” Even so, she occasionally has distracting issues with pitch or odd-sounding vocal tones. Perhaps the biggest miss is the mid-album tune, “In the Circus of Tuonela,” which feels out of place with its lack of memorable hooks. The inconsistency goes hand in hand with a need to edit. While Soulgrind has pretty consistently pumped out 45-minute records throughout their career, this one feels a bit YOLO, reaching the 65-minute mark, including an eleven-minute finale. This last song, incredible as it is, would have a greater impact in a tighter package.

Soulgrind write the sort of melodic music that I love to overrate, with choruses that have me swooning and a heavy crunch of guitar and growls that beautifully contrast with the gentler side of the music. Yet Ad Pulchram Mortem feels as if the band was a touch over-enthusiastic, unable to make the edits necessary to create a more cohesive record. In my heart, there is a 4.0 lurking within these 65 minutes. The compositions revolving around Lilith as well as her soaring performance are just too good. Now that they have this one under their (onion) belt, I hope Soulgrind can return to the studio and create another work with this level of artistry, but a little more cohesion.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inverse Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: August 14th, 2026

#HangingGarden - To Outlive The Nine Ravens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNLr0jqkWz8

https://musiccloud.io/CURqH

Oh, Riikka screams too. She's epic.

#Music

The Fire at First Dawn - #HangingGarden https://musiccloud.io/txh6S

I’m completely obsessed with this band now.

#saturdoom #music

After listening to #HangingGarden all afternoon at the office, I've come to the conclusion I need a Hanging Garden t-shirt for next time I'm at the office.

Melodic death, with a hint of synthwave. It's incredible. #Music

The original is pretty good too. Much darker and doomier.

Riikka Hatakka has a beautiful voice.

Field of Reeds - Hanging Garden

https://musiccloud.io/6UkWo

#saturdoom #hanginggarden #music

Field of Reeds - #HangingGarden https://musiccloud.io/1965k

Those harmonies...

#Music #Saturdoom

The Song Of Spring - Hanging Garden https://musiccloud.io/VdIMR

Beautiful track.

#HangingGarden #Music

Ordered some more #HangingGarden CDs from Bandcamp.

'The Garden', which I only have digitally, plus 'Neither Moth nor Rust'.

I've yet to hear anything of theirs that has disappointed me. They're brilliant. #Music

Starting to wish I hadn’t slept on #HangingGarden for so long.

Listening to their previous album, The Garden now. Loving it.

Riikka Hatakka’s vocals are just lovely.

https://musiccloud.io/Er8V0

#music

The new #HangingGarden album is very me. https://musiccloud.io/6aLSH

A nice mix of gothic death/doom with some hints of black metal.

Some lovely backing vocals too. #music

Hanging Garden – Isle of Bliss Review https://www.allforgardening.com/1664332/hanging-garden-isle-of-bliss-review/ #2026 #4.0 #AgoniaRecords #DoomMetal #FinnishMetal #garden #GothicMetal #HangingGarden #Insomnium #IsleOfBliss #Katatonia #Mar26 #MelodicDeathMetal #Review #reviews #SwallowTheSun #Vesseles

For nearly twenty years, Hanging Garden have quietly dabbled in the same sort of melodic melancholy as their more well-known counterparts, Katatonia, Insomnium, and Swallow the Sun. I first wandered into their brand of gothic sadboi melodoom with 2021’s Skeleton Lake, thanks to Steel’s glowing writeup. While I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard from them since, what really hooked me was their 2025 EP, The Unending. They really honed their melodic game, particularly with an incredible hook on “Morgan’s Trail,” and I was hopeful this EP was a sign of a new direction for the band. Well, they do take a new direction, but not quite the one I expected. Despite its cheerful name, Isle of Bliss proves to be a much darker work than you may be accustomed to from this septet. Their newfound darkness opens up layers of depth, proving the band capable of bringing out beauty from even the darkest depths.

Despite the darker direction, Hanging Garden still dabble in a wide range of moods. On Isle of Bliss, they skillfully blend crushing riffs and Toni Hatakka’s deathly, muscular growls with gentle arpeggios and soft croons from Riikka Hatakka. Opener “To Outlive the Nine Ravens” illustrates this perfectly, as it blends dark growls with lovely trem melodies and a gentle duet with some more feel-good trems in an energetic tune that starts the record off right. Isle of Bliss then takes an unsettling turn on “Eternal Trees of Turquoise,” which features a duet of a different nature, where Toni’s menacing growls mix with Riikka’s sinister blackened rasps. Her performance reminded me a lot of the demon vocalist from Vesseles earlier this year, and it is a chilling turn away from the usual foil to Toni’s harsh growls. Things take yet another turn on the appropriately named “Isle of Bliss” and deceptively named “To the Gates of Hel.” These cheerful tunes feature uplifting guitar tones and some wonderfully catchy choruses sure to put your fearful heart at ease. In sum, Isle of Bliss is a moody beast that will hit you in all the feels.

Isle of Bliss by Hanging Garden

Isle of Bliss contains lush beauty thanks to its patient and melodic songwriting. At times, Hanging Garden shines a light through the darkness with soaring choruses and powerful melodic guitar leads that turn gloom into cheer. On “The Blights Nine,” a trem lead dispels the terrifying horror of Riikka’s rasps, while on “Arise, Black Sun,” the guitar melody transforms a growling duet into a piece of blackened beauty. The tremolos and the tour-de-force vocal performances from the Hatakka pair are not the only aspects that elevate the music. Hanging Garden use chugging, thick riffs to cast a doomy pall, whispery synths to invoke dreamy atmospherics, and piano segments to produce feelings of tranquility. All of these elements coalesce on the atmospheric climax, “Her Wailing Light,” whose beautiful chorus is a wonder in a sea of some great moments throughout Isle of Bliss.

As much as I didn’t want this record to end, there are a few areas where Hanging Garden could have done some trimming. “To Outlive the Nine Ravens” and “To the Gates of Hel” creep nearly into the seven-minute range, where their repetitive, formulaic nature begins to grow thin. Yet they are such terrific songs that the desire to stretch them out is forgivable. Perhaps the biggest letdown is the finale, “Beneath the Fallen Sky,” an atmospheric piece that lacks the punch of preceding tracks. “Her Waning Light” feels like a much more appropriate closer, with its emotional trem lead followed by such a tranquil conclusion. “Beneath the Fallen Sky” may fit a narrative arc as a resolution, and it’s really not a bad song, yet I think it’s just in the nature of resolutions to sometimes feel unsatisfying in the wake of highly emotional moments that precede them.

While I am a relative newbie to Hanging Garden, as far as I can tell, Isle of Bliss is their finest achievement to date. The addition of darker aspects to their sound, while remaining true to their roots, brings depth to their songwriting. Almost every song packs a wallop thanks to powerful singing and incredibly catchy and evocative guitar leads. This band poured their heart and soul into this one. It is a stunning record that will leave you in a state of bliss from start to finish.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Agonia Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

ALBUM REVIEW: Isle Of Bliss – Hanging Garden https://www.allforgardening.com/1662983/album-review-isle-of-bliss-hanging-garden/ #AgoniaRecords #garden #HangingGarden #IsleOfBliss

Finland’s HANGING GARDEN Share Official Video For New Track “Eternal Trees Of Turquoise” https://www.allforgardening.com/1651372/finlands-hanging-garden-share-official-video-for-new-track-eternal-trees-of-turquoise/ #garden #HangingGarden

HANGING GARDEN (Finlàndia) presenta nou EP: "The Unending" #HangingGarden #MelodicDoom #DeathMetal #GothicMetal #Març2025 #Finlàndia #NouEp #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

For @loewe's #MusicWomenWednesday:

#(EchO): My Covenant

https://song.link/nnwzjxbzkrs0j

#AtmosphericDoomMetal #DeathDoomMetal

FFO #Abstracter #hangingGarden #RedMoonArchitect

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
Finland's HANGING GARDEN Share "The Journey" Official Singthrough Video
Finnish melodic death/doom/gothic metallers Hanging Garden released their new album, The Garden, on March 24th via Agonia Records. Watch vocalists Riikka Hatakka and Toni Hatakka sing through the song "The Journey" in the clip below. Hanging Garden...

https://bravewords.com/news/finland-s-hanging-garden-share-the-journey-official-singthrough-video

#HangingGarden #Finland #SingThroughVideo #Journey #Bravewords #MusicNews #Rock #Metal #Band #Official

My #HangingGarden in the backyard. 😊 Courgettes and Kohlrabi. Love these big courgette blossoms.

#Garden #Vegetable #Blossoms #Backyard

A new piece of mine, "New soil", great vibes for spring!

#art #MastoArt #digitalart #digitalpainting #painting #spring #flowers #plants #garden #hanginggarden #pottedplants