EP REVIEW: Lumina Aurea – Swallow The Sun

The circumstances surrounding the newest SWALLOW THE SUN releases are heartbreaking. Lead song-writer and guitarist Juha Raivio tragically lost his long term partner, Aleah Stanbridge, to cancer in 2016, and after taking much needed time away from SWALLOW THE SUN‘s touring schedule, he has crafted two releases, both serving as a conduit to express his grief and a dedication to Stanbridge‘s memory. With the full length album, When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light, releasing January 25th, SWALLOW THE SUN are prefacing the album with Lumina Aurea, a two track EP releasing today – the winter solstice.

The 27-and-a-half minute run time of the EP is made up of the title track, a 13:44 epic, and an instrumental version of the same song. An incredible departure in style, Lumina Aurea sounds nothing like anything SWALLOW THE SUN have released to date. Enlisting the help of neo-folk king Einar Selvik of WARDRUNA and Italian doom metal maestro Marcus I of THE FORESHADOWING, Lumina Aurea is a genre-less affair of pure misery and darkness in musical form. Blending atmospheric neo-folk with sprinklings of doom, spoken word, Gregorian style vocals in Latin, and orchestral sections, the song is incredibly powerful. Here, the vocals act as an instrument, avoiding a standard verse-and-chorus format and existing only to further the atmosphere of the song. As such, the instrumental version stands on equal footing with the “standard” version, offering something a little lighter, but equally emotional.

Lumina Aurea is not a “typical” SWALLOW THE SUN song, if such a thing exists. This is not easily accessible or digestible – it requires multiple listens, undivided attention, and patience. But devoting some time and focus to Lumina Aurea proves to be incredibly rewarding. The darkness and emotion exhibited throughout the song is haunting, and inescapable. Though it is incredibly unlikely SWALLOW THE SUN will play Lumina Aurea live, due to both the vast departure from their more recognisable death/doom style and due to the sheer level of emotional fortitude creating the song must have required, Lumina Aurea is an incredibly artistic and painful piece of music, providing a direct link from the listener to Raivio‘s sorrow.

Rating: 9/10

Lumina Aurea is out now via Century Media Records. 

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