Swallow the Sun Debut Funeral Doom-Inspired New Track “Firelights”

Swallow the Sun are never short on words — musically speaking — so at a paltry six minutes in length, the band’s new song “Firelights” feels like it flies by compared to “Lumina Aurea,” which the band released as a stand-alone single in December. Not that length is a factor in judging a song’s quality; just saying.

“Firelights” plods along at a funeral doom-like pace with all the melancholia, atmospherics and emotion we’ve come to expect from Swallow the Sun, but things get especially fierce in the middle — unexpectedly so — with a black metal-inspired section that goes for the throat with raspy, growled vocals. The string orchestrations towards the end are also both dramatic and striking. Hooray for Swallow the Sun for continuing to push forward!

You can check out “Firelights” along with previously released single “Upon the Water” below. When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light comes out on January 25th via Red Music; pre-order here.