11. July 2025
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Media Review

Swallow The Sun – Shining

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Swallow The Sun - Shining

Swallow The Sun - Shining
4

Rating

 4.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice, versatle doom metal styles
  • Nice meandering between metal and melodic parts
  • Great title track

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some sorts are a bit of predictable

Shining i already the ninth studio album by the Finnish band Swallow The Sun. The Scandinavians have a fixed spot in the domestic music scene already and more and more make it abroad as well. I received their ninth studio before the release on 18th October 2024 and share my thoughts.

 

Swallow The Sun – About The Artists

Swallow The Sun have been found in Jyväskylä, Finland in 2000. The band is doing death-doom and melodic doom metal. The only founding member is Juha Raivio (guita). However, Mikko Kotamäki (vocals) and Matti Honkonen (bass) joined in 2001. The two other band members are Juuso Raatikainen (drums) and Juho Räihä (guitars, keys). Already their second album, Ghosts of Loss (2005) made it to the Top 10 of the Finnish charts – a placement which has been by any album thereafter. With the change of their label to Century Media in 2015, the band also made it to chart placements in Germany and the United States.

 

Swallow The Sun – Shining – Track by Track

The ten track album lasts 50 minutes.

1. Innocence Was Long Forgotten

There is a clear separation of songs on Shining: the first three songs have already been released by the Finnish band, the remaining seven tracks have been unreleased before 18th October. The kick-off is done by Innocence Was Long Forgotten. The song is rather slow, a bit of melancholic with a dark touch. The stanzas focus on Mikko Kotamäki, while the chorus unveils the energy of the whole band. Interesting listen.

2. What I Have Become

What I Have Become goes for a rougher route. There is some grunting – but on the other hand, the song also has some very nice melodic elements. This leads to a nice and versatile touch, tuning this into a very entertaining listen.

3. MelancHoly

Beneath these burning tracks
The Earth below
The Moon above
They breathe cold fire
Began to feel these cracks
Crumble the core
Hate and adore
My blind Empire

The set of already featured songs closes with MelancHoly. The title says it all – this one is slow, wistful, but also intense in listening. Swallow The Sun put a lot of atmosphere into this comparably short listen (3:37 minutes).

4. Under The Moon & Sun

This part of the album does not only feature unreleased tracks, but a couple of really epic ones. Under the Moon & Sun is the first one of those, catching the listener for more than six minutes. The plot is similar to some of the songs before: the stanzas focus on the vocal parts and the lyrics, which assigns an even more present role to the chorus. Despite the track is rather slow, it does have a nice flow.

And then the Sun rise on the night sky
This world has turned upside down (and then the)
South sky will be the last one we touched
Shine under the Moon
Fade under the Sun

5. Kold

On their 2024 album, the Scandinavians work with a couple of typical elements, which they combine differently for an entertaining sound. Kold, for example, works with typical metal style vocal elements, like shouting. The story and the mood of Kold make you dig deeper and deeper into the song. A great storytelling plot, put into a dark metal style. A nice song, which does have a lot of potential.

6. November Dust

I trust
But it’s dangerous
To myself
And the heart of us

Another six minute experience on Shining is November Dust. The long duration allows having an instrumental intro for more than a minute. Thereafter, there is this entertaining mixture of dark and melodic elements. The latter lean towards progressive rock. elements.

7. Velvet Chains

The piano is leading into the shortest song of all Shining ones. The song is comparably quiet, the instruments are rather in the background. A female vocalist pops up on the microphone alongside the band, which makes this song even more interesting.

8. Tonight Pain Believes

The beginning of Tonight Pain Believes felt a bit of lame to me. But then, the eighth track on Shining surprises with a short, but very catchy chorus, which is again in clear focus of production. This definitely prevents this one from the skip one if you are not a band of the band anyway.

9. Charcoal Sky

Charcoal Sky is an almost five minute listen. The song kicks off with present drums and virtuous guitar melodies. The song underlines the dark side of the doom metal band. However, again, there are these fine, almost fragile episodes of the song. They are the icing on the riff-based cake.

10. Shining

Ain’t there something missing? The title track of Swallow The Sun’s 2024 release closes with the title track. This nine minute listen definitely deserves to have its name on on the cover. The song feels like an almost nine minute condensed version of the album. However, don’t focus too much on finding similarities between this one and its predecessors – you may miss the beauty of Shining.

 

Swallow The Sun – Shining – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Swallow The Sun – Shining – My View

Swallow The Sun definitely released a nice set of track in here. They are a bit of predictable, but also show the band’s talent on writing great doom metal songs. They feel to deal with the different talents and styles the Finnish group has in stock very easily. I don’t see them in the elite of ranking – but they are not too far away from it.

Favorite Song: Shining

 

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