How easy is it to surpass a top album? Especially when this album came out three years ago and is probably the best album in your history. Do you think about it at all or do you write what comes most naturally and hope for the best? These and many more could be asked about the ninth full-length work of melodic doom/death metallers Swallow The Sun, since “Shining” has the “misfortune” of succeeding 2021’s masterpiece “Moonflowers”.
I don’t know how the Finns think; however I believe that in their minds they just intended to create once again great music. As they have been doing for more than twenty years. “Shining” has all the elements that their fans love. It’s doomy (obviously), it’s melancholic, it’s melodic, it’s got death growls, it’s got clean vocals. My impression is that compared to its predecessor, it has more melody both in terms of music and vocals.
The cover and the optimistic title might make the listener think that this is the case and it is. Swallow The Sun focus on their brighter side, with a lot of quotes of course because in no way we are talking about happy music. It is also surprising that seven of the ten songs on the album are four minutes or less, which is not only unprecedented in their discography but also unusual for a doom band.
The compositions that stood out immediately were “What I Have Become”, “Under The Moon & Sun” with its fantastic riff and “Charcoal Sky” with a part that directly references Behemoth. So “Shining” is not a bad album. In no way. It’s just that comparisons to its predecessor are inevitable for some. If the listener puts that aside and sees it as a separate musical entity, then they will probably see it differently. Either way, it’s another little gem in this beloved band’s discography.
