GARDEN OF STONE is a rather new Finnish band from Tampere, as they have only been in existence since 2023. That they are very inspired to write music becomes clear on 15 February 2024, when the EP “Tides Of Decay” is let loose on us as listeners. I must say that I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to it. And then, just under a year later, on 10 January 2025, these Finns are giving us their debut album “The Grave Mistake”. That is rather quick, especially when you realise that they have put over 51 minutes of their brand of Melodic Death Metal mixed with Heavy Metal on this album.

For me the combination of their musical styles is one that baffles me from time to time. The transition from one to the other doesn’t always go as smooth as one would hope. And it feels like GARDEN OF STONE are just trying to impress us as listeners with how much musical abilities they have. Well, they do have those, I will give them that, but along the way they forgot that for all of this to make a statement you need to write good songs. Now “The Grave Mistake” just sounds as a lot of ideas put together without enough consideration for the listenability of the music. This is just a jumble of noises, unfortunately.

As for the vocals, Jesse Salo does harbour a number of good voices. When he growls, grunts or shouts he sounds very convincing. When he uses his clear voice on a lower octave it doesn’t sound too bad either. It does get worse when he sings in the mid to higher regions, because for me that is where he just doesn’t hit the mark. He even sounds out of tune from time to time. And that is a pity, as he is able to sound very good. Mix these comments with those I made of the music and you will; realise that GARDEN OF STONE have not been able to impress me on “The Grave Mistake”. I therefore feel that the title of the album is absolutely perfect for what I am being offered on “The Grave Mistake”. My feelings are that GARDEN OF STONE have released this far too soon. They need someone who can take their ideas and arrange them in an order where they will make sense. I would advise to use an outsider, who can also give them positive criticism.