### Swallow The Sun: Emerald forest and the blackbird

#### 29/03/12 || Smalley

The scattered bits-and-pieces of Swallow The Sun that I’d heard before now just seemed like derivative, watered-down, melodic death/doom/goth, kind of a dime a dozen style, but their 3rd album, 2012’s “Emerald forest and the blackbird”, is really shattering that previous notion; it juggles disparate elements such as beautiful melody, lumbering, doomy riffs, black/death-growling, and a mood of gothy melancholy in such a way that no one aspect ever comes to overshadow the others, but rather, stays blended in one big delicious metal-stew (which sounds like it’d be harder to swallow than the sun actually, waka waka). Not fucken bad, eh?

“Emerald” kicks off with the title track, starting with a chilly, distant wind/rain sample, soon joined by the sound of a lone, lamentful flute, struggling not to be drowned out by the downpour from Heaven. Before we can get too folky, however, the rhythm guitars come crashing in with a strong, doomy riff, greatly accentuated and enriched by Aleksi Munter’s lush, ethereal keyboarding, then frontman Mikko Kotamäki comes in with an Aaron Stainthorpe-ish spoken word section. This heavy portion of the song lasts ‘til about 1:40, when an extended quiet section kicks in, with nothing more than some subtle keyboarding, a surprising reappearance from that sad lil’ flute, and some more spoken-word shit. This lasts for over a good minute before the heavy stuff starts up again, and the track goes thru many more peaks and valleys during its near-10 minute duration, including some Type O Negative-y monk chanting, violin work, and a novel dichotomy between black & death growling, but everything’s all just so lovingly crafted and paced, it never becomes confused or tiresome, but rather, remains an emotional pleasure to listen to in every epic second.

The next cut, titled, er, “This cut is the deepest” takes a shorter, poppier, less epic route, but still remains enjoyable due to its excellent use of clean vocals, and a beautiful acoustic guitar to drive things forward. If StS needed a tender little single to break the ice between the general public and this record, “cut” would be it. “Hate, lead the way!” then lives up to its misanthropic title with a dark, symphonic black metal-vibe, creepy lyrics that any son of northern darkness would envy, and fierce, twisted growls from Mikko, but it also eventually becomes somewhat restrained (in a good way) with more melodic sections, ensuring the level of variety here remains high, while also keeping the energy high as well.

“Cathedral walls” keeps the tones ebbing-and-flowing with its languid pacing, soothing, atmospheric guitarwork, and beautiful, Liv Kristine-ish vocal cameo from Anette Blyckert, before ADD-ing mood-wise again with a heavy section, complete with booming Cookie Monster growls. I know, it does sound a bit schizophrenic on paper, but on record it isn’t jarring at all, but rather, works to give us one emotionally-charged, dynamic, and unique listening experience overall, and one that I won’t soon be forgetting.

From there, it’s all smooth sailing as Sun continues swinging from one tone to the next, with the same 100% consistency that they established earlier on “Emerald”, and finish weaving the rich tapestry of sounds, atmospheres, and moods on display here. Yes, I know the more melancholic-based metal bands tend to get more hate than a lot of the others, but seriously, even if you hate goth/doomy shit, still give “Emerald forest…” a chance; hell, I was pretty skeptical myself before it came out, and now look at the score I’m giving it below. You see it…? That’s my ringing endorsement, and now? Don’t you fucken pass it by.

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Spinefarm
- Website: www.swallowthesun.net
- Band
- Mikko Kotamäki: vocals
- Juha Raivio: guitars
- Matti Honkonen: bass
- Markus Jämsen: guitars
- Aleksi Munter: keyboard
- Kai Hahto: drums
- Anette Olzon Blyckert: vocals on track 4
- Aleah: additional vocals on tracks 1 & 7

- Tracklist
- 01. Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
- 02. This Cut Is The Deepest
- 03. Hate, Lead The Way!
- 04. Cathedral Walls
- 05. Hearts Wide Shut
- 06. Silent Towers
- 07. Labyrinth Of London (Horror pt. IV)
- 08. Of Death And Corruption
- 09. April 14th
- 10. Night Will Forgive Us