LIVE REVIEW: Swallow The Sun & Draconian @ The Underworld, London

Upon descending the stairs of The Underworld, a springtime Camden turns into wintry Scandinavia as it prepares to welcome the coldly beautiful atmosphere of two 21st century veterans of melancholic doom metal. A double bill of Sweden’s DRACONIAN and Finland’s SWALLOW THE SUN concluded the UK leg of their tour in stunning fashion with a sold-out London date.

The Sacrificial Flame announces DRACONIAN for their signature sound of crushing death-doom riffs and grandiose choruses that are nevertheless no strangers to a hook, all set against a backdrop of gothic atmospheric keys and over an average song length of seven plus minutes. We’re talking about doom-death, alright. The ‘beauty and the beast’ setup – a demonic male growler duetting with an angelic-voiced clean female singer – is widespread to the point of almost being a cliché in the genre, but few bands do it as well as DRACONIAN. Anders Jacobsson commands the stage with his deep growls, looking like a man possessed as he physically pushes them from within his body. His counterpart is the returning Lisa Johansson who sang in the first five albums in the Swedes’ catalogue, before departing their lineup in 2011.

Despite this, the bulk of the setlist focuses on the two records she was absent for – 2015’s Sovran and 2020’s Under A Godless Veil. Judging by how beautifully Johansson sings songs like Pale Tortured Blue, the untrained ear would not for a second guess that she is re-interpreting another’s vocal lines. DRACONIAN’s mixture of tempos and rhythms (see the dynamism of Stellar Tombs) successfully avoids the pitfall of monotonousness that some of the genre is prone to. Within this variety, they are at their most majestic when their songs invoke moments of dreamy doom-psychedelia, and the whole of the sold-out Underworld is swept up in the gentle sideways sway that only quality doom metal can induce. With a top-notch performance and an ever-growing consistent catalogue, DRACONIAN make a strong case for being considered among the modern-day masters of the death-doom genre.

Rating: 8/10

The brainchild of guitarist Juha Raivio, SWALLOW THE SUN have been steadily gaining followers for 20 years thanks to their irresistible interweaving of beautiful atmospherics and bulldozing heaviness. Opening with Enemy from their acclaimed most recent album Moonflowers, their thickness of sound is instantly evident. Their punches may sometimes land slow-paced or filtered through stringy synths, but always with a heavy impact. Towering over this wall of sound is the hooded figure of vocalist Mikko Kotamäki. His impressive vocal range covers the spectrum from guttural growls, through a soft clean tenor, and into a shrieking-high vocal fry. With this he manages to render a broad spectrum of emotions, its impact only slightly diminished by the vocals being a little buried into the live mix.

A slightly older cut, 10 Silver Bullets brilliantly showcases SWALLOW THE SUN’s range and beauty, jumping between black metal inspired chromaticism, CANDLEMASS-ian doom riffage, and tragic hooks reminiscent of their fellow countrymen SENTENCED. Clad entirely in black and bathed in infrared light, the quintet are mostly static and wordless, only breaking once every few songs for a laconic introduction to the next one. Letting the music do all the talking works, except when it cannot – as a somewhat lengthy break to fix some guitar troubles leaves a gaping awkward silence. The show is back underway soon enough, and we are treated to more gems from their career such as the stunning New Moon. Even with the emphasis on Moonflowers, an eleven-song set manages to represent six of the Finns’ eight studio albums, including a proper oldschool encore. Descending Winters and their signature closer Swallow (Horror Pt. 1) round off a riveting performance full of drama, pain, and catharsis from SWALLOW THE SUN.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Farrah Kathleen here: 

Like SWALLOW THE SUN and DRACONIAN on Facebook.