Jaded

Jaded is the third album, using heavy guitar, cold programming and shadowed singing to build a melancholy world. Released in 2003, it's still often called their finest by fans. The songs move heavily, yet the choruses hold a wistfulness that lingers — it doesn't end in darkness alone. A new face came in on guitar in place of Juppe Sutela, and the sonic texture shifted slightly. Called more pop-metal-flavored than the previous two, it definitely widened the band's reach. An aesthete's atmosphere and metal's force bind closely, giving the whole record a night-like unity. The advance single — a cover of Cutting Crew's “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” — is the song that symbolizes this period's approach. From the opener “Dying Embers” to the title track, “The Unknown II,” “Fall Strains” and “Silence Tells More” through to the closing “Spineless,” the density doesn't drop. But in August that year vocalist Jape Perätalo left and formed Tiaga with former members. A record that concentrates the appeal of Finnish gothic metal.