Pegah
“Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground“
Oscar Wilde
As I’m hit by the heat wave of summer, as I pass through the fearful days following the unrest, I feel the need to listen to a kind of music that sounds cold. I want to be drawn in by the weight of sorrow. I need to go deep for a while — to escape the chaos. I’ve always found this kind of pleasant coldness in music from Finland, and this time I had the opportunity to immerse myself in The Bleak Picture’s newly released album, Shades of Life. The album’s title alludes to the varied aspects of life shaped by experience and emotion. It’s not merely black and white, but rather a spectrum — a reflection of the complexity of existence. Yet, the cover art, with its stark, gray minimalism, suggests a deliberate detachment from that conventional interpretation of life.
“Plagued by Sorrow”, with its rough soundscape, uses plague as a metaphor for a collective hardship imposed upon a land. It embodies suffering and the struggle against overwhelming forces. And since I was caught in such chaos not long ago, I could feel the pain in every cell of my body. Like a ghost caught in a throat, the vocals carry the weight of silent suffering — the hush of a history erased. “Absolution” maintains the harsh, gritty guitar rhythms but introduces a more melodic tone than the previous track — perhaps suggesting a shift in life, or at least a glimmer of hope for change.
“Code of Ethics” feels like a winter storm — a blizzard in which the scream fades into the whiteout. “Without the I “descends into a darker atmosphere, as if lost in a place where no sunrise ever comes — a land where all beginnings have already ended. The soundscape gains momentum here, adopting a faster, more urgent tone, feels like running through a collapsing dreamscape. “Circular Reflection” slows things down, sinking deeper into weight and atmospheric doom. As it moves toward its conclusion, a beautiful guitar solo emerges — offering a moment of relief, like being released from the prison of your own thoughts.
“Silent Exit”, the longest track — and one of my favorites — tells the story of leaving when there is no reason left to stay. When life becomes nothing more than a feeling of emptiness and the endless repetition of identical days. When you keep going, wearing a mask to hide the deepest wounds — the ones that never truly heal. Maybe real life is somewhere else… The closing track, “City of Ghosts”, is the most atmospheric piece on the album — a perfect fit for the end. The vocals, hovering somewhere between clean and growled, become the voice of a city invaded and left in ruins. Everyone is gone; the only escape was departure. And yet, I remain — standing alone, refusing to leave my homeland.
Label: Ardua Music
Release date: June 27, 2025
Website: https://thebleakpicture.bandcamp.com/album/shades-of-life
Country: Finland
Score: 4.5/5.0
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