Album Review: Swallow The Sun - Shining
An album so good we review it twice! Two of our top writers sink their teeth into this beast of a record.
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Formed in Jyväskylä, Finland at the turn of the millennium, Swallow the Sun’s brand of doom death flew closer to the genre’s atmospheric and gothic aspects than the deathyaggression of some of the more famous exponents.
Finding success from the outset, with albums like The Morning Never Came and Ghosts of Loss, StS established themselves as one of Scandinavia’s most vital acts. Now, with Shining, the band have reached their ninth full-length album and have made this new record in the image of the 2015 triple album, Songs from the North I, II & III, in that this new record reflects multiple aspects of the band’s sound.
Going back to the earliest days of Swallow the Sun’s doom death sound are the harder edged What I Have Become, with its choppy guitars and guttural vocals, oozing filth and despair in equal measure. Gothic keys and a blacker backing vocal add to the darkness of this tune. Charcoal Sky powers along until it pauses for a moment to wllow in its own misery, showing a breaking heart through an emotive solo. Kold is the liminal space where the doom death meets the dark, with the slow progression being joined by whispered, ghostly vocals.
The cleans on Kold lend themselves to Shining’s other sound, where the band adopt a Katatonia style, leaving the guttural behind them and, instead, clothing those massive riffs in a dark ambience. Innocence was Long Forgotten opens the record with the guitars coming over as straight off Sky Void of Stars or City Burials. Even Mikko Kotamäk’s voice has acertain Jonas Renkse ring to it, heard here and also on MelancHoly and Tonight Pain Believes.
Observing Swallow the Sun’s progression from outright doom death band to a more dark metal outfit, comparisons to Katatonia are almost inevitable. The same could be said for the other band who spring to mind when it comes to such a transition: Anathema, and their spirit can be felt on the chilled vibes of Velvet Chains, complete with a female vocal.
Don’t for one moment think the above paragraph is meant as a criticism of StS’s progress as this reviewer loves the doom death elements of both Katatonia and Anathema and feels the same about the individual paths they have followed since.
Swallow the Sun demonstrate their takes on this aspect of their sound through the more idiosyncratic Under the Moon & Sun, with its meeting of the other styles of the record, November Dust, which revels in a more melancholic spirit; and the title track itself, a nearly nine-minute celebration of the band’s commitment to the dejected and forlorn.
The rhythm section of Matti Honkonen and drummer Juuso Raatikainen lay down the robust foundation from which Juho Räihä, and ever-present multi-instrumentalist, Juha Raivio, can set free soaring guitar and elusive keyboard lines.
Production comes from the Grammy Award nominee, Dan Lancaster, who delivers a deeply crisp sound, allowing the maximum misery to emit from every note.
It’s another triumphant album from one of Scandinavia’s most consistently miserable sons, and one that should see the band standing shoulder to shoulder with My Dying Bride and Funeral for the title of the most morose record of the year.
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
I can honestly say that I think that Swallow The Sun are probably the biggest death-doom metal band that I’ve never spent enough time vested into. I must have had my head up my arse this whole time, as they’ve been around for over two decades and are about to unleash their ninth studio album on an unsuspecting public, who really aren’t ready for this.
The melancholic and atmospheric music encapsulates their world of beauty, despair and heartache, but this latest release has had the band searching for “something new, something bright, something that will take them to new spheres”. There are ten new songs to celebrate, beginning with the powerful “Innocence Was Long Forgotten” with Mikko Kotamakigiving a stunning vocal performance.
The songs are carefully crafted and sculptured pieces of art, and “Shining” has seen the Finnish quartet “explore the intrinsic challenges of being human” with epic songs such as “What Have I Become”, that feels like you are having your heart ripped out, followed by the haunting melodies of “MelancHoly”, which is the stand out track on the album for me, as it’s simple, yet beautiful and formidable.
You can feel the sense of struggle and disillusionment over the next few songs, particularly within the keyboard arrangements on both “Under the Moon & Sun” and “November Dust” which leave you feeling cold and uncomfortable yet soothed simultaneously. Bassist Matti Honkonen calls this the “Black Album of Death Doom” which is some claim, considering the impact that had on the world of heavy music, but it is nonetheless a very impressive album.
The band decided to take a leap into the unknown and the piano solo at the beginning of “Velvet Chains” is one of my favourite pieces of music on the album, as it sets the standard of what they can achieve, with another eerie and atmospheric song. It is wrapped up by the album title track “Shining” that is nearly 9 minutes long and wouldn’t have been out of place on the Twin Peaks soundtrack. The album “symbolizes the band’s pride and resilience” and will turn a few heads.
