The Man-Eating Tree – In the Absence of Light

Releasedate: 20-03-2015; Label: Ranka Kustannus
By: Gamze Öyünc

Atmospheric metal band from Oulu, Finland “The Man-Eating Tree” which was formed in 2009 has released their 3rd album “In the Absence of Light”.

This was an awaited album by the listeners of Finnish metal. The fact that TMET was a project of Ranta (ex-Sentenced), Markus (ex-Poisonblack) and Miika Tenkula (Sentenced guitarist) and the guitars was originally going to be played by him before he passed away in 2009 makes this band even more precious in my eyes than it already is.

Wikipedia defines their genre as Atmospheric Gothic Metal but for this album it might be more suitable to say that their genre has shifted to a more progressive/alternative one. The first two albums “Vine”(2010) and “Harvest”(2011) definitely did justice to the atmospheric metal music but this one has brought a change of sound to the band in my opinion maybe with the help of new vocals. Of course, you can still feel the Finnishness of the sound.

Musically, the songwriting was done by the new vocalist Antti Kumpulainen who joined the band in 2013. The lyrical theme of the album is teemed with feelings and it is more emotional compared to the previous albums whereas the lyrical theme of the past albums was more existential or industrial if you will. The lyrical change surely is a natural change and all for the better without doubt.

Clean vocals by Kumpulainen add this very emotional and vulnerable element to the songs. His voice tone fits right in TMET’s atmosphere. The keyboards are beautifully prevalent on this album. The Finnish mood in TMET songs are perfected by the keyboards. All of these elements make their sound instantly recognizable and unique in my opinion. Music is written by Markus and a few by Karhu. They wrote heavily melodic songs for the album. The artwork of the album is creatively very awe-inspring and goes hand in hand with the songs perfectly. It’s pretty dreamy, but black and bleak. The emptiness of human soul maybe we can call it… And decay of life. It’s up to you to decide as listeners after all, interpretation might change from one person to another like in any piece of art. That emptiness has been portrayed impressively in the artwork. The drummer Vesa Ranta is behind the whole design.

As for my personal highlights from the album; “Plaguewielder” is an upbeat track with a sense of Katatonia with just the right amount of melancholy. However, this is by no means a bad thing, it just means the band is leaning towards a more progressive path. “Plaguewielder” was put on You Tube right after “The Divided” some months ago before the album release. You can easily acknowledge that the album was going to be more emotionally moving upon hearing “The Divided”. The sound is just exquisite and touching to say the least. On “Death Parade”, the delayed guitars are impressive and fresh, and the song is catchy as hell. Definitely one of my favorites off the album. Sentimentality in the refrain bit of “Heretic Pulse” is just captivating.

Overall, if you wanna taste a spoonful of current Finnish melancholy with a rocking sound, you need to check Tmet’s music. The band is going to tour all over Finland this spring and summer and hopefully other parts of Europe such as Germany etc. soon.

Line-up:
Janne Markus – Guitars
Vesa Ranta – Drums
Antti Kumpulainen – Vocals
Antti Karhu – Guitars, Growling vocals, Back vocals
Mikko Uusima – Bass

Tracklist: 01. Breathe Emptiness 02. Flatline 03. The Heretic Pulse 04. Vermin 05. The Divided 06. Plaguewielder 07. Death Parade 08. The Vessel 09. Obsidian 10. Dead On Earth

Links:
The Man-Eating Tree Facebook
The Man-Eating Tree Official