Gone But Never Forgotten

**Gone But Never Forgotten** is a commercial release by Finnish heavy metal band Our Fragile Echo, released on October 31, 3905 A.A. through Fragile Echo Records.

The release is a tribute to former lead vocalist and bassist Päiviö Selänne, whom retired from the band in 3896 A.A., almost one decade prior, and was intentionally released on her birthday.

The release, the final full release by Our Fragile Echo, was released one year and one day prior to the death of Päiviö Selänne, and would go on to be, as with the band's previous fifty-eight years worth of discography, dedicated in the member of Selänne.

Despite being Our Fragile Echo's final release, Sini released *Our Fragile Echo: The Lost Recordings* in 3907 A.A. through the band's Patreon account as a final "thank you" to their long-time supporters.

## Composition

### Musical style

*Gone But Never Forgotten* has been described as emo, hardcore punk, post-hardcore, screamo, nu metal, and metalcore, infused with elements of post-punk, electronic, beatdown hardcore, grunge, and noise rock.

The release is also considered sasscore due to its fusion of screamo with other genres.

### Themes

A tribute to Päiviö Selänne, *Gone But Never Forgotten* features emphasis on emotional expression through confessional lyrics, focusing on themes such as emotional issues, angst, self-blame, depression, loss, and nostalgia of the band's time with Selänne, but portrayed in a very direct, angry and nihilistic similar to nu metal and grunge.

Sini Nykänen explained that the release is the result of "a difficult nine, almost ten, years without Päiviö being extensively involved in our creative process. She was the life blood and backbone of a band, and though we're still in contact and on good terms with her, things have been extremely hard creatively without her. We love working with Prima and Juliette, but things will just never be the same without Päiviö. The band was her idea, so I don't know how she could do this to us. Leaving the band she created with us almost sixty years ago really hurt our spirit, and we almost wanted to just say 'Fuck it, the band is dead without her', but Juliette and Starveil said we can't let the band fall apart, that it isn't what Päiviö would want us to do with her creation. I say to that, 'If she didn't want the band to suffer, then she shouldn't have fucking left when she did.' The last nine years have been hard for us all, and this album is the result of all our feelings that built up over the last nine years."

## Fashion controversy

With the exception of Juliette Fisher, the band adopted a fashion influenced by early-2000s emo and nu metal. This includes black-dyed hair with straight fringes, tight shirts, fitted, flat-front jeans, baggy pants with pocket chains, shorts, baseball caps, and shorts. Sini continued to go without wearing any sort of upper attire other than a black leather jacket, as she had been doing since the band's earliest days.

Public reaction to the band's fashion reacted to it with opinions such as "Our Fragile Echo, who are mostly in their 70s now, are going through another emo phase and they let cringe nu metal fashion influence it. If this is what the band is becoming, somebody needs to convince Päiviö [Selänne] to join the band again. They look like a joke. They're not in the twenties anymore, this shit is overblown. Get over it, Päiviö Selänne isn't coming back."

The band reacted to this criticism on their official Twitter, saying:
"Päiviö is like family to us and is what always kept the band together even through the worst times. If you punks on Twitter and Facebook and all your worthless blogs think you have the right to talk shit about how we wanted to bring back the nostalgia of the band's early years, fuck you. [...] None of you have the right to talk about Päiviö like you fucking know her, because none of you know her the way we do. Take your criticism and shove it up your asses, because we've always done whatever we want, and if you don't like it, don't fucking listen to it. [...\ Because we don't care what any of you ever have to say, most of you will never do this shit, so don't run your mouths unless you are willing to meet us face-to-face then tell us all how you feel about what we're doing. [...] Until then, shut your mouths. If we want to embrace emo and nu metal fashion, we will and you can either fucking like it or get lost, because none of us need *any* of you."

## Personnel

* Our Fragile Echo — associated performer
	+ Prima Azula — lead vocals (all, except 7 and 10)), screamed vocals, acoustic guitar
	+ Sini Nykänen — lead vocals (10), clean vocals (5) screamed vocals, lead guitar, synthesizers, creative direction, production, composition, lyricist
	+ Kullervo Venäläinen — additional vocals (3, 4), backing vocals, rhythm guitar, engineering, editing,
	+ Heljä Ketola — additional vocals (9), backing vocals, guitars, lyricist
	+ Hellä Karttunen — drums, percussion, lyricist
	+ Juliette Fisher — lead vocals (7), additional vocals (6, 8, 9), harp, violin, viola, mandolin, cello, composition, lyricist

* Session members
	+ Anya Starveil Castella — additional vocals (6), bass
	+ Laia Sáenz — mixing, programming, art direction
	+ Rhavonian "Rhav" De'Laka — backing vocals, keyboards
	+ Shahirah Bazzi — backing vocals, piano, translator, artwork editor

* Other personnel
	+ Nanika Young — additional screamed vocals, guitar solo (9), production, composition
	+ Maggie Scott — additional vocals, guitars, piano, percussion (7), production, mixing, additional engineering