REVIEW: When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light by Swallow The Sun (Full Length Album Review)

Few hours ago, Finnish Melodic/Death Doom icons Swallow the Sun released their long-awaited album "When a Shadow is Forced into the Light" a 3 year after their triple masterpiece "Songs from the North". A new marvelous masterpiece has been added to Swallow the Sun's massive impressive discography.

For sure, Swallow the Sun reviews don't need a long introduction as their career and distinctive sound are widely known around the globe. In fact, I can't deny that I am so happy because I am providing Swallow the Sun's Middle Eastern and African fans and listeners the first "When A Shadow is Forced into the Light" review from the region!

Release Details

Release Name: "When A Shadow is Forced into the Light"

Band: Swallow the Sun

Genre: Melodic Death/Doom Metal

Origin: Finland

Release Type: Full Length Album

Number of Tracks: 8

Released Via: Century Media Records

Rate: 9/10 

REVIEW: When A Shadow  Is Forced Into The Light by Swallow The Sun (Full Length Album Review) 

By: Rana Atef a.k.a ``DaRk~~KniGhT`` (EGYPT)

You may feel curiosity before listening to the new Swallow the Sun release, especially after "Songs from the North", this mighty, massive triple album that made all Doom Metal lovers surprised! Honestly, Swallow the Sun's latest album is another beautiful continues for the band's unique combination of music with some great additions to the musical mood in general. 

The album consists of 8 tracks: "When A Shadow is Forced into the Light," "The Crimson Crown," "Firelights," "Upon the Water," "Stone Wings," "Clouds on Your Side," "Here on the Black Earth," and "Never Left."

The album starts with "When a Shadow is Forced into the Light". It is opened with a depressive melodic intro backed with amusing orchestration. This beautiful intro gives you the impression of running into rainy forests, and listening to the falling hanging branches. Shortly, Kotamäki catchy clean vocal appears with warm acoustic tunes as the one you can hear in "This Cut is the Deepest" or "Night Will Forgive Us". 

After that, the riff of the intro returns with epic screaming as screams of a real dead lost soul. The style of the clean vocals is accompanied with Gothic, and gloomy female voice, ringing bells with "Memory of Light". But, what's really impressive is the last part where the different types of vocals are taking turns to create a mood of psychopathic enraged mood of depression. It is like submitting your innocent wounded soul to the hateful darkness. 

Next is "The Crimson Crown". In fact, it is opened with a really strange intro. Those Gothic, horrific atmospheric/ambient sounds with screams bring to your mind the soundtracks of horror/Gothic films. Then, the music starts with darkened rhythmic part and it carries catchy flying tunes with clear Bass, and Keys tunes. 

The music is almost portraying a series of vivid blackened images. The middle part of the track carries a calm, spiritual instrumental part carries a spoken part and followed by a painful killing solo. Shortly, emotional Gothic female singing enriches the music and gives it a higher dimension of sorrow.

The upcoming song is "Firelights" (One of the early released singles from the album). A familiar Swallow the Sun acoustic intro with clean vocals, followed with female whispers before moving into an atmospheric/funeral Doom mood. In 3:021, the track moves into a faster, extremer atmospheric Black Metal style. You can trace the beautiful strings work in the heart of the track, whispers, and guitars.

Next is "Upon the Water". We can call it "Lights on the Lake, Horror Pt. III" equivalent. It is opened with amusing riff recalling one of Swallow the Sun's most celebrated songs "Lights on the Lake." Sweet sorrowful instrumental part is like an artistic epitaph for Aleah. Through a rage scream, the mood of the album turns to a bleak blackened one. The harmony of different vocal types give the listener a strange mood of enjoyment, and self-engagement.

The presence of Gothic elements and atmospheric/orchestral touches enrich the sounds of the instruments, and the vocals are another element of beauty and strength.

Now, it's "Stone Wings" turn. It begins with a bleak intro from guitars and slow drum beats, then a beautiful clean singing part takes part in it. The mood of the track is highly atmospheric. In 4:28, the music turns to be more Epic with Gothic/Orchestral atmosphere with high screams then a beautiful female singing starts to tweet! The combination of the whole Epic music, weeping Guitar rhythms, harmonized vocals is more than amazing.

Next is "Clouds on Your Side". Its intro is somehow strange and not familiar to Swallow the Sun style but it reminds me of the intros of Post Metal/Post Rock Depressive/Doom/Dark Metal influences (Something you can hear in A Young Man's Funeral final album for instance).

But shortly the music is turned to the familiar Swallow the Sun style with known growling, clean vocals mix. The keys and the strings (Violins/Cello) give the music a catchy and darkened color. The final part carries Gothic spoken female part with a Dark musical riff.

Moving to "Here on the Black Earth", with a slow drum beats,  darkened clean singing and brighten atmospheric sounds "Here on the Black Earth" starts. In 1:29, the whole mood is directed into dynamic Melodic/Death Doom one portraying the running waves of pain and darkness. It is like shaking the cold rooms of the heart, like wandering between stony silence and volcano like anger.

The final track is "Never Left". Gothic melodic intro drives you into a seas of grief and sorrow followed with dynamic sorrowful melody. The calm depressed style of the track is close to "Cathedral Walls" or "Silent Towers". You can feel a real feeling of sadness and grief through the clean vocals. The presence of female voice echoes with keys and violin enhance true and tragic humanitarian sadness.

After reviewing the whole album, let's move to the summing up. The album in general is very good one! Swallow the Sun prove that they still have many experimental ideas to add to their music. I think, nobody can deny that Aleah's death moves a great amount of grief inside Juha Raivio's soul. The album is full of beautiful employment of female vocals presence, and keys which pained the album with more Gothic colors. Also, the clean and screaming vocals are the major types of vocals of the album, and growling, whisper, spoken come next.