HARMS – Rebirth Of The Cold

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  HARMS
• Duration: 00:37:09
• Available from: 05/08/2026
• Label:

• Time To Kill Records

The second album by the Finnish Harms seems to come from a musical scenario of twenty-twenty-five years ago: “Rebirth Of The Cold” is a publication that can be placed in a time frame referable to the first decade of the 2000s, if not even to the last stirrings of the previous century, without too many impulses towards more recent stylistic connotations.
In truth, the Nordic group has its feet firmly planted in today, at least in terms of age: the musicians are still quite young, the band has existed since 2017 and since then it hasn't actually produced much, stopping at one album – “A Lifetime Spent On Dying” – released in 2021 and the EP “Rupture” in 2024.

In the presentation biography they are spoken of as a post-metal band, a slightly misleading definition, because from the first notes you are grabbed by the neck by more urgent, squared and anthemic sounds, with an eye on gloom, black hints, an asphyxiated and not very reassuring climate, a constant throughout the tracklist.
If we can talk about post-metal, in fact, it is in its primordial characteristics and, in fact, closer to an evolved hardcore material, therefore to post-hardcore and its more vehement and heavy filiations, crossed with the more turbid sludge – from the parts of early The Ocean or Cult Of Luna, to be clear: the Harms, however, almost entirely avoid particularly elaborate complications and structures, focusing on an anthemic and epidermal impact.
The album's setlist is compact, ferocious and captivating in its own way, focusing on a mixture of sounds that recall the metalcore of Norma Jean, Integrity, Zao, in a simplified and blunt conformation, with a very marked attention to melodies and linear structures, not excessively elaborate.
So much so that, were it not for a full-bodied and mellow production, the melodic embroideries would inevitably end up in even different territories, those of the Darkest Hour or the In Flames of “Soundtrack To Your Escape”. It is therefore the metalcore world in its various – dated – facets that is the favorite environment of the Nordic formation, good at retrieving those stylistic elements in a credible way, much less in constructing truly winning songs.

Let's be clear, “Rebirth Of The Cold” is pleasant, aggressive and well-paced enough to remain in rotation for some time among your current listens, but we don't go much beyond that.
The main problem is that the songs are on average quite telephoned, they flow discreetly but in a predictable way, alternating more driven and attacking phases, grumpy average tempos, some bitter melody here and there to instill a minimum of atmosphere.
The twilight tones of the more thoughtful passages are covered with a Nordic winter halo, almost falling into the more melodic death/doom vein of a band like Swallow The Sun; It's a shame that this aspect remains secondary, however, not becoming so central and decisive in outlining the character of the training. The Harms remain something partially unexpressed, quickly becoming confusing, a bit generic: the album is well-finished in its sounds, sufficiently energetic and intense, you can also notice a good work on the voices, with a substantial contribution from the second voices to dialogue with the main one, giving a battle-like chorality to the whole. Too bad this isn't enough.

The ideas on how to make the individual songs sound at their best are quite limited, and although “True Night Falls”, “A Lifetime Spent On Dying”, “Essence Of Sorrow” are willing to be listened to, they do not ultimately leave the memory of great emotions experienced in their company.
“Rebirth Of The Cold” is basically the classic 'genre album', a category in which sometimes little gems fall, in other circumstances, as in this case, something willing, sweaty, far more than sufficient but, ultimately, forgettable, if not for the super enthusiasts of the sector.