Review Summary: It took an album to find their North
Finland, much like most of the northern countries, have a reputation for bringing out the best in the Heavy Metal genre. The secret may reside in the creativity of their citizens – who excel in fields such as science and arts – or even in their characteristic secularism. Since Swallow the Sun arrived in the scene, 15 years ago, the Melodic Doom group have been delivering satisfying albums. And despite the minor changes in sonority over the years, all of them present us with pristine melancholic atmospheres.
Three years after “Emerald Forest and the Blackbird”, a competent, yet underwhelming release, the quintet announced on their facebook page that they were aiming for greatness: a triple album was brewing in the North, each CD its own universe.
The first album presents the listener with the bands most familiar sound: long, slow tempo tunes that alternate between an aggressive mood, to a soothing melodic ambiance - a familiar bipolar dialect in the melodic metal world. The first single, “Heartstrings Shattering” serves as potent example of it. But the journey starts “With You Came the Whole Worlds Tears”, a suitable opener that showcases the album’s content, with an acoustic intro, a doomy middle, and a “funeraly” ending. Although lethargy runs vibrant amongst the band’s philosophy and lyrics, tracks such as "10 Silver Bullets", "Silhouettes" and "Lost and Catatonic", however, are distant from being great. They seem lacking the fundamental elements that made STS an household name: groove, melody and atmosphere.
Fortunately, the disappointment soon fades away. Part II is an elegant 42-minute journey into acoustic lands where the band demonstrates their prowess delivering ingeniously touching music. It’s difficult to show indifference during the chorus in “The Heart of a Cold White Land”; hard not to tear up with the exotic oriental female voice, caressing your ears in the self-titled track; almost impossible not to shiver during "66º50´N 28ª 40 E’s" guitar solo; quixotic to ignore “Away”’s bridge. Overall, the album is pervaded by all of these sumptuous moments, and it is where the band achieves its highest point.
The adventure finds it’s epilogue in 5 track funeral doom fest. It’s the slowest tempo’s they’ve ever played in. As a result, the atmospheres created by the tracks are daunting and intimidating. Lyrically, this is where it shines. “7 Hours Late” to your father’s death - a heartbreaking scenario, described in an 11 minute slow descent to the obscure side of life. "Abandoned by The Light" and "Gathering of the Black Moths" are also immense. They immerse the listener in a totally different universe, a sonic experience unrecalled in the band’s opus.
Even though the first album exposes the bands lowest point, they manage to recover. An emotional acoustic sonnet, and an intimidating funeral doom adventure save an otherwise disappointing release.
