Live Review: Swallow The Sun - The Underworld, London
12th April 2023
Support: Shores of Null, Draconian
Words & Photos: Jacob Schwar
Turning up outside The Underworld in Camden, I was pleasantly surprised to see tonight’s show was now signposted as sold out! Not to mention the long queue of concert goers, who were queuing in the rain, which ran all the way back to Bayham Street right behind the venue. This would be the last UK date on Swallow The Sun’s co-headline tour with Draconian before continuing back in Europe and it was amazing to see such a healthy turnout.
Without further ado, we come to the first band Shores Of Null warming up a rain-soaked audience with their intense style of melodic doom with hints of black metal in the mix. They kicked off their set with the near-anthemic song ‘Destination Woe’ which is one of several tracks performed by the band from their latest album The Loss Of Beauty (2023) and a fine introduction to what we’d be experiencing for the remainder of tonight’s event both sonically and emotionally, as this was strictly a doom metal show. ‘Nothing Left To Burn’ was the next song and a true highlight with leadsinger Davide Straccione’s wailing vocals on the chorus amongst this truly depressive, blackened guitar work. Some great tracks from the set included the misery-laden title-track ‘Black Drapes For Tomorrow’ and ‘My Darkest Years’ with its faster more black metal-style pace which was much needed within a set consisting of slow and doomy material. Shores Of Null were an excellent choice as openers providing a tight performance of heavy songs that were full of emotion and true sincerity, a taste of things to come with the next two bands on tonight’s bill.
Next to take the stage were Draconian, purveyors of gothic doom hailing from Sweden who need no introduction yet with 20+ years in the genre and an impressive discography that doom fans should be aware of, we were in for something magnificent with this performance. At the helm was the incredible Anders Jacobsson sharing singing duties with the recently returned Lisa Johansson, who originally performed on Draconian’s first 5 albums before making her departure from the band back in 2011, it was clear to see her return was welcomed with members of the crowd shouting ‘welcome back Lisa’ during the interval.
They kicked straight into the track ‘The Sacrificial Flame’ from their much acclaimed album Under A Godless Veil (2020) which was in fact my first introduction to the band. This song oozes an almost ‘melancholic-sexiness’ which is very unique to genre of gothic doom, it came across powerfully in a live setting with the band as a whole sounding incredible. Following on we were treated to some real belters such as the majestic ‘The Sethian’ or the somewhat hopeful ‘Seasons Apart’ and of course the incredibly moving ‘Pale Tortured Blue’ which best showcases the extraordinary ‘beauty and the beast’ dynamic between Anders and Lisa’s vocals. Draconian put on a remarkable show bringing an aura of both beauty and melancholy to the tonight’s venue, it was heartwarming to see some passionate members of the crowd with their arms raised and on the brink of tears signing along with Lisa, this should be enough to show just how much feeling and raw emotion can be found in Draconian’s music.
After such an ethereal and breath-taking set we’d be getting a well-deserved second helping from tonight’s headliners Swallow The Sun. Walking on to the stage in total darkness and dressed in hoods like corrupted medieval druids they wasted no time, kicking straight into the miserably heavy ‘Enemy’ from their most recent release Moonflowers (2021). Keeping the heaviness going, they played ’10 Silver Bullets’ next, a rather optimistic track with some crushing deathcore-like breakdowns throughout which just shows the experimentation in their sound. ‘Falling World’ was to follow which got the audience banging heads as this is one of Swallow The Sun’s biggest songs with its Paradise Lost-esque chorus and guitars, a personal highlight from their performance being a massive Paradise
Lost fan myself.
Leadsinger Mikko Kotamaki was on top form providing an excellent vocal performance during ‘Firelights’ alongside both guitarists Juha Raivio’s and Juho Raiha’s eerily, atmospheric instrumentation bringing an almost creepy vibe to the set. Some more set highlights included ‘Stone Wings’ and ‘New Moon’ just a couple examples of why Swallow The Sun are one of the best bands in the death/doom genre, providing a somewhat more modern and accessible listen to a genre that is quite niche and esoteric in nature. They would finish an extraordinary set with a two song encore consisting of older tracks ‘Descending Winters’ and ‘Swallow (Horror, Part I)’ , both tracks being fiercely death/doom though with an equal amount of sorrow and misery, a rather fitting parting gift from the band before leaving the stage to a momentous applause.
All photo credits: Jacob Schwar / Darkness Before Dawn
