Review by Adam M on July 9, 2020.

Green Carnation has found the proper balance on their newest album Leaves of Yesteryear. Balancing epic tracks with more morose and somber ones isn’t new to the band, but they do it as effectively as ever here.  The mood of the band is rich and atmospheric and makes for nice background music. The tracks have some of the epic approach of Light of Day, Day of Darkness mixed in with the more accessible approach of albums like The Quiet Offspring.  The result is a balanced and effective overall listening experience.

The album is really diverse and shows off a wide variety of sides to the whole picture.  Their music is similar to the likes of In the Woods… and features a nice amount of dynamic shifts and turns.  This still isn’t quite as expressive as Light of Day, Day of Darkness, but it’s a relatively complex platter nonetheless.  When you mix the epic aspect with morose Katatonia-like moments, you get a very interesting and worthwhile effort.  One can sense a greater use of progressive tendencies from the band and this is also effective at moving them onwards into deeper realms of atmospheric metal glory.  I still think the album pales a bit when compared to the band’s best material and comes off a little tame overall.  The songwriting is great, however, and this leads the album to being one of the better ones from the year so far. 

With a little more progressive tinkering the band can remain relevant throughout a long period of time and appeal to a wide variety of different metal listeners. Those enamored with Green Carnation’s previous outings will find something to like here, as will all fans of atmospheric metal in general.  This album fills in the space for an emotional and moody metal experience and as such is highly recommended to the overall audience. 

Rating: 7.6 out of 10