Review Summary: Swallow The Sun's eleventh hour record has never sounded so good.
When talking of the Finnish doom metal scene you’d be hard pressed to find a conversation that doesn’t mention Swallow The Sun. For the better part of two decades these Finnish masterminds have been crafting some of the genre’s more prevalent and heartfelt compositions by melding equal parts emotion with devastatingly well-performed instrumentals. As such (and given the practice a twenty year career would make), Swallow The Sun’s core values have been consistently on the better side of critical reception and their eight record,
Moonflowers deserves equal, if not greater praise. That’s not to dismiss the band’s more preferred back catalog. The likes of
The Morning Never Came,
Hope and even newer cuts
When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light (a whole two years ago) continue to hold up even as new material is released. Whether you’re a fan of the band’s more storied releases or just along for whatever comes next
Moonflowers is the album doom metal needed before the year is out.
“Moonflowers Bloom in Misery” rings in the new record with melancholy, notes dancing to minor chord progressions that
just seep anguish and loss. As such the atmosphere takes a larger focal point here and in everything that follows. Swallow The Sun are masters of atmosphere. From there, Mikko Kotamäki’s vocals take over, a narration of gentle croons and pointed gothic imagery—but his place isn’t in the limelight. Simply put, Mikko Kotamäki is the conductor, directing the very tide of emotion that embraces before it roars. Emotion is laced into every nook and note while the listener breathes in both the track’s simpler, gentle melancholia and devastating walls of bombasting riffs and deep growls. “Enemy” continues in the same vein. After all, Swallow The Sun’s musical formula has only ever required tweaks to suit their members’ current moods and states of mind. Melodic guitar lines weave into riff and vocal passage, clear even under a cacophony of riffs and mid to low growls. In this manner they compliment the album’s more efficient leads while the lyrical hooks do their part.
As impressive as the record’s first half is, it’s the closing bisection that deserves the higher praise. “All Hallows' Grieve” features Oceans Of Slumber vocalist Cammie Gilbert who’s impressive cleans harmonise well into the core of the Swallow The Sun framework. As far as doom metal duets go, this could be the best you’ll hear this decade. “The Void” picks up where much of the album’s first half left off; smoldering riffs latch onto sombering, melancholic melodies while the omnipresent Mikko lays both hook and sentimental verse onto a canvas already thick with hues of black, grey and red, balancing a constant dichotomy of heavier sections to contrast with ethereal, simpler cleaner sections. It’s a sentiment that I wouldn’t put out of place while referring to Katatonia’s more modern pieces. It’s this weighted contrast which has served Swallow The Sun and in turn,
Moonflowers so well. In this manner I’d be remiss to skip “Keep Your Heart Safe from Me” and it’s minimalistic beginnings that turn to the group’s more potent death metal tropes halfway through. Like two sides of the same coin the track both placates a kinder atmosphere
and moods meant to rip at flesh and bone. It’s a trend that continues in a more balanced manner during “The Fight of Your Life” as the vocals lean into snarls as well as the expected melodic croon and near-Opeth-ian growls—restraint balancing with abandon and chaos with fleeting moments of tranquility.
Even as the record closes curtain with “This House Has No Home”, Swallow The Sun’s penchant for gravitas doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s here that
Moonflowers’ pain truly reverberates through everything that’s come before it. Whether it’s the dirge-like riffs and ringing notes, the march of splashed cymbals or the pure, unadulterated anguish that pours through clean and screamed vocals alike the album comes to a satisfying, yet completely pained end. It circles back to the atmosphere mentioned [near] the top of this review. Swallow The Sun knows their craft, they play it well and we as listeners
feel it.
