Hanging Garden - The Unending (2025)

Always evolving and delivering some interesting Gothic/Doom Metal music, today we have Finland’s Hanging Garden and their engaging “The Unending” EP release. Settling in new members over the last few years, has allowed the band to add extra influences to their music and stay more active, releasing a couple of EP’s since their last full-length release. If you like Doom/Gothic Metal with that Finnish edge, you will certainly love this release.

Opening with the playful “To Seize the Night”, the band sets a very lively tempo, giving us some Theatre of Tragedy vibes from their “Aegis”/”Musique” days. This track is quite entertaining with its crafty clean vocal arrangements and its very melancholic nature. Moving into catchier territories, “The Passage” has a certain Melodic Death Metal edge to it, perfectly complemented by Riikka Hatakka’s dreamy vocals and Toni Hatakka’s harsh growls.

The EP’s fastest and most engaging track has to be the explosive “Morgan’s Tail” and its powerful guitar work and upbeat tempo. There is also a certain Paradise Lost/Katatonia-esque edge to this song that keeps things fresh and engaging, while some Black Metal-ish riffs creep into the mix. Closing with the dreamy “The First Sunrise”, we get the band’s signature darkness and melancholic style that we have loved over the years, keeping things crafty and mellow.

As a whole, “The Unending” is yet another solid release from Hanging Garden. It is quite baffling that this band is not bigger than they are as they always release very emotionally complex and engaging releases. The band’s style is quite dynamic and refined, making their songs be quite effective and always well layered. We hope to see the band continue their evolution and their trajectory as their style gets more refined and unique.

Label: Agonia Records

Release: March 14th, 2025

Genre: Gothic Metal

Country: Finland