Finnish melodic death-doom metal duo The Bleak Picture, featuring current and ex-members of Autumnfall and Fall Of The Leafe, has released its debut album, Meaningless, via Ardua Music.

The band's doomy riffage borders on death metal heaviness, though the music manages to escape from the shallows of repetitiveness while continuing in the atmospheric groove traced by the band's acclaimed first EP, with greater emphasis on dark melodies that wrap the songs in a cosmic shroud of stars. The vocal lines frequently alternate registers, offering haunted wailing cleans, catchier verses and dread-filled death calls. The sound is instantly familiar with nods to the '90s but never sounds retro or like mere homage.

The Bleak Picture was founded in 2021 as a side project of the duo's main band, Autumnfall. The first promo was written, recorded and digitally released the same year. In 2022, the promo caught Alone Records' ear, so it was remixed and mastered with the addition of real drums and released on CD and vinyl. The duo didn't stop there but began work on its debut album, Meaningless, released on 22 March on CD and digitally. Bleak and desolate, without forgetting beautiful melodies, The Bleak Picture dives deep into murky waters that can also be called melodic death doom metal. For fans of old Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Swallow The Sun, Counting Hours, and Killing Joke. Link