New Moon

Imagine the surprise of your average wannabe teenage vampire who erroneously purchases New Moon -- not the soundtrack album for the popular Twilight movie franchise -- but the fourth album by doom/death demi-gods Swallow the Sun. Or vice-versa! In either case, there'd be little chance of crossover given the Fins' continuing commitment to the harshest elements of their metallic sound -- all leviathan riffs and beastly growls and shrieks -- even as they progressively experiment with tighter song arrangements, melodic singing, and gothic accents (see "Falling World") amid the ever-present symphonic backdrops that have served them well since the start of their career. On the flipside of that coin, the arrival of new drummer Kai Hahto introduces the occasional black metal blastbeat (e.g. "Servant of Sorrow"), and actually expands Swallow the Sun's range of tempos to the absolute limits at both ends of the slow/fast spectrum. This openness to change may of course wind up alienating some doom metal purists, much as it terrifies Twilight fans; but let the former turn elsewhere if they can't appreciate the creative immensity of doom-laden New Moon highlights such as "These Woods Breathe Evil" (a truly cinematic tour de force, evoking both morbid horror and plain awe), "…And Heavens Cried Blood" (where angelic melodies never sounded so sinister), and perhaps the supreme exercise in extremes, "Lights on the Lake (Horror Pt. III)," which builds from a delicate, female-sung reverie to blastbeat-whipped fury then back again, and still it works! In short, not unlike Katatonia before them, Swallow the Sun can't help but evolve, and it's ultimately the very gradual rate at which they do so that makes it almost impossible for even the most stubborn of fans to begrudge them that evolution, with the alternative being stagnation. People who think like that may as well go buy that shitty Twilight soundtrack. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia