It’s late spring here in the U.S., and with summer on our doorstep (it was 90 degrees here last week), it also brings with it the possibility of gusty and dangerous storms. But there are more cataclysmic events that are not the result of nature, and that’s the storming that goes on in our minds, something that can be so forceful, it can make taking on a new day a monumental challenge.

Danish doom veterans Saturnus finally have returned with their incredible new record “The Storm Within,” a collection that is awash in crashing waves, an angry sea, and violent precipitation soaking the ground. But they match that to our experiences of anger, loss, pain, and other dark elements, and being immersed in that can feel like battling waves we have no prayer to conquer. The band—vocalist Thomas A.G. Jensen, guitarists Indee Rehal-Sagoo and Julio Fernandez, bassist Brian Hansen, drummer Henrik O. Glass, keyboardist/pianist Mika Ditlev Gyldenøhr Filborne—envelope you with melodic, melancholic doom metal that leaves the heart and mind soaked and shivering from the cold. It’s a masterful collection that makes the 11 years we faced without a new Saturnus record feel like a drop in the bucket over the mental and physical force you feel in the music. It’s an incredible record you cannot shake, even long after the music has come to an end.

The title track opens in thunder and rain, feeling properly seasonal, which is fitting, and the playing gently dawns. It’s not long before Jensen’s wrenching growls become a factor as the murkiness develops, speaking passages taking place of the grisliness in spots. Melodies soar as the guitars drip, the temperatures later melting, feeling gothy as growls lay waste, and the essence returns to the clouds. “Chasing Ghosts” is the second-longest track (12 seconds shorter than the opener) and begins amid echoing guitars and cold speaking, everything feeling reflective and dour. Growls wrench as the doomy waters thicken, corrosion eats into the heart, and the thorniness is calculated but direct, slipping into calmer air. The playing opens anew and bubbles viciously, the leads coming in thicker layers, sadness bleeding through fabric smearing into dirt. “The Calling” explodes at a faster pace, great leads glowing, a melodic chorus adding even more color. The cloudiness thickens as the growls begin to gut, the playing mauls, and the leads gust, injecting energy and glory to end this awesome track with power.

“Even Tide” features Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom adding guest vocals, and this track enters with keys dropping, speaking cutting into your heart, haunting darkness spreading and infecting. “I wonder why this long I survived,” is howled as strings layer, adding to the misery. “Every time I try to go, the waves bring me home,” Jensen calls as the vocals pull back and forth from both singers, the pain finally bowing out. “Closing the Circle” runs 9:20 and mixes into the fog, the leads engulfing, the growls eating into flesh and organs. Solemn guitars slip in as the pain engulfs, the fire scorching, the leads swallowing everything whole as blood rushes to the skull. The growls rush back as the pain blisters, adding to the pain by running your face into the flames. “Breathe New Life” has guitars hovering overhead and the growls applying pressure, laying in punches as the keys glaze and confound. Guitars burst as the barometric energy moves into storm phase, the pace pummels, and the heaviness takes a few more strips of flesh before fading. Closer “Truth” begins with chilling keys, speaking sending jolts down the spine, and everything fully opening about three minutes into the cut. The playing lurches and drags you into shadows, crushing while the guitars harness energy, letting the pain increase. Dark speaking and menacing growls eat into the psyche while fluid playing cause waves to rise, spilling into rustic acoustics that let cool breezes soothe your skin after another battle with your own mind.

The harsh sea, the winds whipping, your own wounds festering are easy to confront when taking on “The Storm Within” as all of those elements are served in large, menacing doses. An 11 -year absence did nothing to eat away at Saturnus’ power, and their stranglehold on melancholic doom is at its apex on this incredible collection. The pain is still served in generous portions, and this band’s ability to make music that has optimal emotional impact remains dangerously intact.  

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/saturnusofficial

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://us.spkr.media/

Or here (Europe): https://en.spkr.media/

For more on the label, go here: https://en.prophecy.de/