Swallow The Sun

Live at The Whisky a Go Go

West Hollywood, California

April 7th, 2017

Review and Photos by Travis Baumann

Swallow The Sun hail from Finland and play a dark and moody form of extreme metal. The band wavers between death metal and gothic influenced melodic metal, the vocal delivery being the primary element that juxtaposes the two styles.

Swallow The Sun return to North America with their fellow countrymen, Amorphis, which is a fitting match up as they both utilize the combination of genres to create original material that caters to symphonic melodies joined with a harsher side that lends the music intensity and drama.

Swallow The Sun are generally much darker in verse and subject matter but then also mix in serene beauty with that gloom. The band consists of Mikko Kotamäki on vocal duties, Juha Raivio and Markus Jämsen dealing out the dual guitar onslaught, Matti Honkonen on bass guitar, and Juuso Raatikainen on drums.

They started off the set with "Rooms and Shadows" off of their latest 3 disc release, "Songs from the North I, II, & III". There is a driving force felt from the bass and drums but then the guitars lend a melancholy gothic melody that leads the listener on a journey through the murky shadows.

Mikko's vocals range from a lush melodic delivery, to soft whispered parts, and then growled harsh moments as well, all adding depth and character to the stories. These are not short easy listening pop tracks, but extended tales that weave and flow between beauty and darkness, sometimes taking up to ten minutes to come to a catharsis.

They followed up with "These Woods Breathe Evil" from 2009's "New Moon" album and continued with another song from this same release with "Falling World".

Their songs are emotional and moving, the band cast in dim lights and the music building deep atmospheres, lending to introspective contemplation. They returned to the latest offering with the romantically tragic sounding "Heartstrings Shattering".

They played "Labyrinth of London (Horror, Part IV)" from the "Emerald Forest And The Blackbird" album which had just come out the previous time I saw them on tour in 2012. This album was my introduction to the band, so it was cool to revisit this era.

Going back into their catalog, they played "Psychopath's Lair" from 2005's "Ghost of Loss" album. They followed that up with two final songs that thematically go hand in hand; "Don't Fall Asleep (Horror pt.2)" from the "Hope" album and finishing up the night with "Swallow (Horror pt.1)" off their debut album "The Morning Never Came".

It was a really good show, I enjoyed it much more than the first time seeing them as I was quite a bit more familiar with their material and style, but also the lead singer was considerably further engaged with the audience.

I really love this doom filled gothic metal style. These guys are very much in the vein of Katatonia (which fittingly enough they have collaborated with in the past), but where Katatonia have pushed into melodic progressive styles, Swallow The Sun have greatly stayed in the more sinister realm and continue to express their songs in a combination of the clean and extreme vocal styles.

As an added bonus for Swallow The Sun fans, Mikko came out for Amorphis' final track and sang with Tomi (who has also appeared on Swallow The Sun albums) to give a double dose of growled vocals.

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