Weightless World is a Progressive Metal band from Finland formed in 2011. Heavy on the Progressive end of the Metal spectrum, they bring in elements of Power and Metalcore and even edge pretty close to Speed Metal at times. They use clean and harsh vocals, mixed in with the backing vocals to create a larger-than-life set of voices capable of taking their songs to a new level. Lyrically, Weightless World delves into the complex realm of human spiritual growth and the raw, unfiltered emotions that surface when life takes unexpected turns. These deliberations and stories can also be seen happening from the perspective of the same character known as Sleepwalker. This thematic approach adds an intriguing layer to the music, making ‘Sleepwalker’ a profound and captivating listening experience for fans of the genre.

https://weightlessworld.bandcamp.com/album/sleepwalker

Band Members:

  • Perttu Korhonen – Lead Vocals
  • Valtteri Viinikka – Growls & Backing Vocals/Guitar
  • Juuso Oinonen – Backing Vocals/Guitar
  • Tino Kantoluoto – Bass Guitar
  • Kari Rannila – Drums

November 9, 2023 – Inverse Records

http://www.inverse.fi

Tracklist:

  1. Initiate Restart
  2. Speedrun
  3. Eyes Of A God
  4. Ragdoll
  5. Pitch-Black Rainbow
  6. Nightmares Are Stories Of…
  7. What We’ll Become
  8. Out Of Time
  9. Sleepwalking
  10. Hopeless Dreams
  11. Step Into Nothingness

The album opens with a heavy track, “Initiate Restart.” The riff is on the lower end, the bass gets a few chances to peek out from under the rhythm and the drums have some nice tempo/phrasing shifts. The vocals range through cleans and growls, giving the song multiple textures and different feelings. This song hits nice and hard but still makes room for some nuanced shifts in how the instruments are moved in and out of the dominant areas. The bass takes a few quick leads and the drums move up over the guitars a few times, giving the song some interesting twists.

“Speedrun” continues this trend by starting with some melodic keys in a slow tempo that gets run over by blast beats, only to have the song downshift into another lower gear for the first verse. The movements back and forth from slow to fast with individual instruments shifting in different sections at times is a treat to hear. Weightless World has quite an intriguing set of skills when it comes to both composition and performance.

For another style, go to “Ragdoll,” a track that begins with ambient guitar tones and crashes in with an early 2000s Nu-Metal style. Here, the chorus has some of the better-harmonized vocals on the record. I am not sure if it is all three voices synched up or one voice layered a number of times, but either way, it sounds like a killer choir capable of filling the soundscape quite well.

Two tracks later, there is the shortest song on the album, “Nightmares Are Stories Of…,” an eerie instrumental with haunting vocalizations and creepy keyboard tones. This is a well-done intro for the longest track, “What We’ll Become,” one of the faster-tempo songs on the record. This track has the time to wander through many different timbres with the vocals and takes some interesting twists with the instruments, especially the fade out at the end echoing the bridge earlier in the song.

One of the things I like most about this record is the variable use of the voices. Having three different singers, including one dedicated to growls and two backing vocalists, there is a lot of room for experimentation and using different styles of vocals to act as different characters within a song. Weightless World uses this to dramatic effect, accentuating the music with a diverse set of voices. Excellent musicianship, coupled with fantastic vocals, makes this one of those albums that stands out from the crowd.

MZ Ratings:

Musicianship:

  •             Guitars – 10
  •             Rhythms – 10
  •             Vocals – 10
  • Songwriting – 9
  • Production – 9

Overall – 9.40