Having a touchstone album in your discography can be a blessing and a curse. For all the acclaim and recognition it can bring to a band, it also hangs like an albatross, with everything else being compared to it. I feel like Green Carnation have been struggling with that ever since Light of Day, Day of Darkness came out almost a quarter century ago, and it wasn’t until 2020’s Leaves of Yesteryear that it felt like the band was unfettered and free of expectation to craft some epic progressive-leaning metal. Five years later and that freedom continues to blossom with A Dark Poem, Pt. I: The Shores of Melancholia. The first part of a trilogy, it presents a revitalized group unworried about their part, only gazing forward.

That 15-year break between The Quiet Offspring and Leaves of Yesteryear saw so many changes in the metal world, both from a sonic perspective drive as well as an industry perspective, that I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the band had packed it in. Instead, Leaves of Yesteryear showed a band later focused on progressive, gothic metal that could slip in and out of death, black, and doom styles with a slippery ease. And The Shores of Melancholia emphasizes the group’s continued facility with genre-hopping. It helps that in vocalist Kjetil Nordhus they have one of the best sets of pipes in the business, capable of anthemic cleans and gnarled roars that take each of the album’s six tracks up several notches.

Opener “As Silence Took You” acts as a template for the rest of The Shores of Melancholian a slowly building intro gradually transforms to a more grand, energetic verse, steeped in sorrow until the chorus brings a anthemic note of grief. Even as things pick up with the single “In Your Paradise” that sense of sorrow permeates everything – there’s a reason the album is titled what it is. As Nordhus’s vocals take on a gritty anger in the song’s second half you get a sense of the emotion bubbling under the surface of the track, which talks about false promises of paradise that lead you to ignore the paradise of your own heart. Subtle keyboards add an electronic flourish to the end that really elevates the song without sacrificing an ounce of heaviness.

Anyone fearing the loss of speed and rage will be more than satisfied by “The Slave That You Are” which really amps up the black metal elements in a way we haven’t heard in forever. Once again, Nordhus’s vocals are a perfect complement to the tune, giving to my ears one of the best black metal vocal performances this year. It helps that he’s so ably backed by bassist and songwriter Stein Roger Sordal, guitarist Bjørn Harstad, drummer Jonathan Alejandro Perez and keyboardist Endre Kirkesola. The band move into epic power territory with the title track before closing things up with the outstanding “Too Close To The Flame”, nine minutes of progressive bliss that’s risen to the top of my list of favorite Green Carnation tracks.

If there’s a sole weak spot on A Dark Poem, Pt. 1: The Shores of Melancholia it might be the slight, sappy tone “My, My Enemy” takes, although I forgive it due to how nice the opening bass solo comes across. And in truth it’s a fine song, just not as strong when measured against the rest of the album.

Not a bad problem to have, moving away from being judged against a 25-year old album and instead judged against the other songs. All of which are fantastic and more proof that Green Carnation’s best work is here, now, and in the future.

– Chris

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A Dark Poem, Pt. I: The Shores of Melancholia is available September 5 from Season of Mist. For more information on Green Carnation, check out their Facebook page.