Ukrainian Romantic Metal outfit Season of Melancholy have completed one hell of a journey with their second full-length album, In Sleep โ a 12-track record forged through changing lives, a global pandemic and the devastating reality of full-scale war in Ukraine.
Released on 4 September, In Sleep clocks in at more than 43 minutes, with its material written across a six-year period between 2018 and 2024.
And judging by the story behind this thing, calling it simply โalbum number twoโ doesnโt really do it justice.
This is survival, change, grief and artistic evolution poured into music. ๐๐ธ
๐ Melancholy Meets Gothic Darkness
Season of Melancholy havenโt abandoned the emotional atmosphere that sits at the heart of their sound.
Far from it.
But In Sleep sees the band pushing those foundations into new territory, incorporating influences from post-punk and gothic rock alongside a more dynamic, energetic approach designed to hit harder in a live environment.
Thereโs still darkness.
Thereโs still melancholy.
Thereโs still that sense of staring out of a rain-covered window at 2am questioning every decision youโve ever made.
But now there are moments seemingly built to explode across festival stages too. ๐ค๐ฅ
The band explain:
โWe want to be closer to younger audiences โ people who are drawn to energetic and vibrant music today. At the same time, it is important for us not to lose the atmosphere and emotional depth that define who we are.โ
Thatโs the balancing act at the heart of In Sleep: moving forward without ripping out the soul of what made Season of Melancholy what they are.
๐ What Does In Sleep Mean?
Even the albumโs title carries some serious emotional weight.
In Sleep reflects upon those who leave the world while sleeping โ disappearing without the opportunity to say goodbye, settle unfinished business or make peace with themselves.
The bandโs vocalist admits there was once something he found strangely romantic about the idea.
But as time passed, that thought evolved into something much bigger โ and considerably more unsettling.
And then real life gave the record a weight nobody involved could possibly have anticipated.
๐บ๐ฆ An Album That Nearly Never Happened
The story behind In Sleep changed dramatically in February 2022.
Season of Melancholy had realised they had accumulated enough material to create their second full-length album. The decision was made to bring those songs together and finally turn them into one complete record.
Then, the following day, Russiaโs full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
Suddenly, finishing an album existed alongside an entirely different reality.
Recording stretched across several years as the musicians searched for the right producer and attempted to continue creating while living through missile attacks, air raid alerts and prolonged power outages.
That context runs through the emotional DNA of the finished record.
The band explain:
โWe wrote these songs during three completely different periods of our lives: when things were relatively stable, when the world faced the uncertainty of COVID-19, and when the horror of full-scale war arrived in Ukraine. That is why this album carries such a wide range of moods and emotions.โ
Thatโs six years of history compressed into 43-plus minutes of music.
Bloody hell. ๐ค๐บ๐ฆ
๐ฅ Six Years of Change
In Sleep wasnโt simply recorded and shoved out into the world either.
Season of Melancholy repeatedly returned to the songs throughout the process.
Arrangements changed.
Ideas were discarded.
New elements appeared.
There were breaks.
The musicians parted ways.
Then they reunited.
Rather than hiding that turbulent history, In Sleep appears to wear it proudly.
The band see the finished album as a document of both personal and artistic growth โ built around the idea that music might have certain foundations and constants, but there are almost limitless directions in which those foundations can be pushed.
The result brings together melancholic lyricism, controlled aggression, gothic atmosphere and anxious observations of the modern world.
Itโs a combination the band believe has produced their most diverse and emotionally rich work yet.
๐ง In Sleep โ Tracklist
- Stage 3 DeepSleep (Intro)
- Inmate
- Farewell Song
- Keep the Night
- Ghost
- T.Y.CH.I.YA.
- Change of the Scene
- Way Out
- Probachโฆ
- Born in Lies
- Down in Rage
- In Sleep
๐ The Riff Report Saysโฆ
There are albums made because itโs time for another record.
Then there are albums that become a snapshot of everything that happened while the people creating them were simply trying to keep moving forward.
In Sleep very much sounds like the latter.
Songs written between 2018 and 2024 inevitably carry different versions of the musicians who created them โ but throw COVID, separation, reunion and the unimaginable reality of making music during a full-scale invasion into that timeline and youโve got something carrying considerably more weight than your average second album.
For Season of Melancholy, In Sleep represents six years of evolution, uncertainty and persistence.
Dark, melancholic, aggressive and emotionally loaded.
Thatโs exactly the sort of record we want rattling the speakers here at Riff Report HQ. ๐๐ฅ๐ค
Go give Season of Melancholy some noise, butt. ๐บ๐ฆโค๏ธโ๐ฅ
Season of Melancholy โ In Sleep
๐ฟ 12 tracks
โฑ๏ธ Over 43 minutes
๐
Released: 4 September 2026
๐ธ Romantic Metal / Gothic Rock / Post-Punk / Atmospheric Metal
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies. ๐ค๐๐ฅ
