Review: Swallow The Sun Brings Catchiness to Crushing Depression with Shining
Like the Peaceville Three and Katatonia, it didn’t Swallow The Sun long to realize their style of death doom could easily transition into euphonic territory. The Finnish band’s roots might be blackened, deathened, doomened, gothened… whatever the kids call sad, slow heavy music these days… but it’s only a matter of time before a group like this wonders, “what if we wrote music that’s depressing, but also catchy?” Albums like 2019’s When a Shadow is Forced into the Light show their ability to synthesize melody into their melancholy heaviness, while the decision to record the whole classical “classical” version of 2021’s Moonflowers shows the true depth of their accessible side. In this way, Shining brings a profound melodic instinct to Swallow The Sun’s nucleus of sorrow.
Not to mention Katatonia again, but comparing the opener “Innocence was Long Forgotten” to Swallow The Sun’s Swedish neighbors helps contextualize their accessible side. Where Katatonia favors a proggier rhythm structure, Swallow The Sun is perfectly comfortable centering a song on a lumbering groove elevated by expansive melodies. Ironically, this keeps the low-and-slow vibes of the band’s old stuff intact while leaving room for a larger-than-life production value to inflate its emotional impact. More importantly, it’s catchy. Plenty of extreme metal bands fumble their forays into more pleasant territory because they simply can’t write a hook. Mikko Kotamäki knows how to sing, and it pays off.
Another interesting comparison for Shining becomes Woods of Ypres, as Swallow The Sun isn’t afraid to go headlong into their harsh side even after the most melodious songs. The wall of sound keyboards and hard-chugging riffage that begins “What I Have Become” welcomes in the death growls, but the harsh vocals also tastefully layer under the chorus singing to give it a bit more “umph” without overpowering the hook. Swallow the Sun also maintains a good balance between riff-centered metal and cinematic production value. “MelancHoly” brings ascending keyboard arpeggios at the perfect times, as the slow-burning rhythms guide the guitars from reverbed strains to surging tremolo.
The vocal range shown by Kotamäki also takes center stage, but he noticeably limits certain vocal styles to specific times. On both “November Dust” and “Tonight Pain Believes” he uses his baritone range to give a somber, classic goth cadence to the softer sections. His ability to jump a few octaves up and down in a single song without breaking serves Swallow The Sun well, as does his ability to emphasize both keys and guitars to create distinct, yet tasteful embellishments for both riffs and simpler chord progressions. While certainly slow and mournful enough to remain doom, the former track’s soaring leads and layered ambiance provide plenty to chew on, while the latter’s electro-acoustic production and droning synth-bass give the verses trip-hopish sway to contrast the explosive chorus.
Guitarists Juho Räihä and Raivio make these dynamic shifts possible by intuitively pushing and pulling their prominence as the song needs. In the case of “Under the Moon & Sun” Raivio’s keyboard prowess displays as much technical prowess as his spirited guitar soloing, while the old-school death-doom riffage of “Kold” gives all necessary proof that Swallow The Sun can and does pack a punch when they want to. This is still doom at its core, just with more to offer than depression, riffs, and long runtimes. Put it this way, if Type O is a part of the doom metal conversation, then Swallow The Sun adding some earworms into their music shouldn’t rustle the jimmies of anyone looking for well-written music.
While not quite as obvious as the Moonflowers mentioned before, for which Swallow The Sun recorded a classical version, there’s a genuine push from the band to create lavish, illustrious arrangements beyond the power of distorted guitars. For instance, the harmonious vocals, drizzling piano chords and elegant crescendos in “Velvet Chains” happen to feature Juuso Raatikainen’s most delicate drumming. His restraint does wonders for the ballad, giving it more resonance in its softer impact. By contrast, the dissonant riffage and double-kick drumming of “Charcoal Sky” might bring old Dissection and Behemoth to mind. The point is, Swallow The Sun isn’t out of their element in either case. Their songwriting remains on point.
As Shining comes to a close with its title track, Swallow The Sun spans their full emotional gamut, with passionate tremolo leads and monstrous screams blending perfectly with earthy acoustic strummings and neo-classical fervor. From the most luminous balladry to the most mighty build-ups, the band finds their perfect synthesis of extremity and pleasantry. It’s certainly not every day a band can bring so much variety to a track while keeping its refrains so memorable.
While those who prefer their doom metal crushing and miserable might find some parts of this album too easy on the ears, Swallow The Sun manages to capture the essence of their time-tested sound while expanding their emotional vocabulary.
Swallow The Sun’s Shining releases this Friday 10/18 on Century Media.
