ALBUM REVIEW: Shining – Swallow The Sun
When recording their self-titled album, METALLICA chose to work with Bob Rock, a producer with a string of chart hits with the likes of MÖTLEY CRÜE under his belt. He took the band’s thrash blueprint and gave it a commercial sheen, and in doing so created one of the most monstrously successful metal albums of all time. Upon hearing Shining, the latest album from SWALLOW THE SUN, it’s clear why their bass player Matti Honkonen has referred to it as “The Black Album of death doom.”
The Finnish quintet have enlisted producer extraordinaire Dan Lancaster, a man with the likes of BRING ME THE HORIZON, MUSE and ENTER SHIKARI on his CV and in doing so have created their most polished and commercially accessible albums of their careers.
Stylistically, Shining isn’t so far removed from previous album Moonflowers, with its morose, heavy ballads and slabs of rousing melodeath but the step up in quality is certainly noticeable. Opener Innocence Was Long Forgotten is a clear statement of intent. The trademark melancholic melodies, crunching guitars, lush leads and huge earworm of a chorus are given a modern metal sheen with deftly placed stabs of electronica and a satisfyingly crisp production.
Shining is an apt title for this album as the whole thing glistens with high production values and almost pop sensibilities. In fact, tracks like the aforementioned opener and MelancHoly wouldn’t sound out of place as the token metal song on a Eurovision Song Contest lineup. Their homeland of Finland does have form for entering metal bands after all. And were SWALLOW THE SUN to compete they’d be far from nil points too.
The sparkling mix aside, much of the luminescence on shining is provided by chief songwriter and vocalist Juha Raivo’s masterful touch when it comes to writing huge and emotive melodies. Frontman Mikko Kotmäki’s voice is in fine fettle too, bringing to mind the velvety tones of GHOST’s Tobias Forge at times.
If all this sounds like SWALLOW THE SUN might have gone a little soft, not to worry, there are plenty of moments where they bare their teeth and lean into their death-doom roots. Tracks like What I Have Become and Kold take a much darker melodic turn, while Kotmäki delivers the vocals in throaty, guttural growls.
At the midpoint of the album, is November Dust, which is a slab of pure TYPE O NEGATIVE worship, right down to the baritone delivery, chorus drenched power chords and echoey piano breaks. This is followed by the most subdued track on the record, Velvet Chains, which is led by a haunting piano melody and a morose vocal line delivered with Kotmäki singing in harmony with an unnamed female vocalist.
In the final throes of the album’s 50-minute run time are perhaps its most exhilarating moments, with Charcoal Sky fizzing out of the speakers with a savage trad-metal riff, juddering kick drums, blistering leads and even a perfectly placed “bleurgh!” for good measure. All this before closing with the epic nine-minute title track, which ties all the albums motifs together nicely as it veers from heart-wrenching quiet passages, thunderous melodeath, and even elements of post-metal. Juha Raivo once again shines brightest on this track, elevating the track as he does with lush, harmonised lead lines and virtuoso shredding.
Granted, Shining may never reach the heady heights of the Black Album to which it has been compared, however it is certain to gain them a fair share of new fans outside of the melodic doom realm in which SWALLOW THE SUN have dwelled for the past two decades.
Rating: 8/10
Shining is out now via Century Media Records.
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