Swallow The Sun - The Emerald Forest And The Blackbird

Music is a fickle thing. Sometimes you listen to something and it immediately grabs you. Sometimes it make you excited. Sometimes it evokes deep seated loathing. But the important thing is that it evokes something. A feeling, a reaction, an emotion ... even an overwhelming ennui that makes you turn it off and never listen to it again. Anything, in fact, is better than nothing at all.

The Emerald Forest And The Blackbird, the latest album from Finnish death/doom band Swallow The Sun, arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago. I've listened to it several times, and it's perplexing me.

Fundamentally, it's exactly the sort of thing I like. A mix of heavy death metal moments complementing softer, doomier sections laced with theatrics and narrative. It has a number of songs that have immediately worked their way into my subconscious like all the best mind-worms (better than ear-worms, which are often superficially catchy) and are instantly recognisable. There's even a bit of blackened death going on in tracks like Hate, Lead The Way and Hearts Wide Shut. It should all be very exciting. And this is the root of what is perplexing me.

The fact is that, while the songs are catchy, well played, and I enjoy listening to them, the album as a whole leaves me flat. A Swallow The Sun album should be crushingly depressing, or alluringly disquieting, or engagingly melodramatic, or something. But instead it feels almost easy listening. The album starts, I sing along to This Cut Is The Deepest, rock out to Hate, Lead The Way, marvel at the beautiful Cathedral Walls, feel all gothic for Labyrinth of London and get more than a little confused by April 14th. But when the album ends, life goes back to how it was before it started. There is no lasting effect.

I am wondering if, in part, this is because it failed to meet my expectations as a concept album. For a while now the common knowledge is that Emerald Forest is a concept album about a father talking to his dying child. It would certainly be a fitting topic for a Finnish doom band. But if that is the concept, then it doesn't survive beyond the end of the opening track. For sure, the opening track fits that concept very well, and is quite effective at conveying the sadness of the narrative, but then it ends. This Cut Is The Deepest, the second track, has absolutely nothing to do with the first track at all. Hate, Lead The Way, too, being blackened death with some pretty effective blackened vocals to match, is different again. In fact, the whole album is something of a mixed bag of topics and styles, sometimes jarringly so.

Perhaps the most effective track on the whole album is Cathedral Walls, the video of which I posted a while ago. The interplay between Mikko Kotamäki's verses and Anette Olzon's guest vocals on chorus makes for a haunting and engaging song. The inclusion of death growls in the middle provide a crescendo of sorts, and is probably the most satisfying track on the album.

Now, I don't want this post to be all doom and gloom. The album has some good songs on it, and I'm wondering if my somewhat apathetic reception of it is more to do with the apparent lack of cohesive concept than any failure of songwriting, musicianship or production. Having listened to it over ten times, it's obvious that it is not boring or unpleasant to listen to. It must have something about it, even if that something is an enigmatic je ne sais quoi. I'm just wondering if I need a lightbulb moment to really "get" it.

One thing I will say, in closing, is that I love the album art. It's somehow complex, yet minimalist, and the black on white is certainly unusual for a metal album. The touch of green sets it off nicely, and makes it stand out as a unique example of bucking the usual metal artwork trends.

Dark Tranquillity - In My Absence Video

Hot off the proverbial press, Dark Tranquillity continue letting guitarist Niklas Sundin take charge of video production with this rather nifty video for In My Absence from 2010's We Are The Void. This is one of my favourite songs off the album, so it's cool to revisit it 2 years on and see the band performing it live. Something I've not had the pleasure of since they haven't graced our fair shores for a fair while.

Shot entirely by the band themselves during a live performance in Russia with cameras attached to everything from guitars to audience members, this is an interesting twist on the usual basic performance video. The cool effects put in here and there to emphasise the song's lyrics are a neat touch, too. A bit of a change from the rather triptastic Iridium video I posted about a while back, mind!

Illuminatus - Glasnost

Sometimes when looking for new music to listen to, an older name crops up. Sometimes it's so subtle that you don't even notice. So it was with Illuminatus, a metal band from Nottingham. After seeing the video for Murdocracy a couple of weeks ago, I was very excited to hear the rest of the album, assuming it to be a new release. Not so. It was, in fact, release early last year.

It turns out that I have, in fact, seen Illuminatus play live. They toured their first album, The Wrath Of The Lambs, back in 2008. I saw them supporting My Ruin at Sheffield Corporation, along with Sanctorum and Speed Theory. They were the first up, and so were, unjustly, consigned to my memory as "that first support band who were really good but I can't remember their name". Such realisations make me wonder how much other cool stuff I could have found by being a little less drunk and forgetful at gigs in the past.

But on to the matter at hand; Glasnost. As may be expected by the title of both the album and the video Murdocracy, the lyrical themes of this album are corrupt governments, powerless individuals and the futility of war. Released last year to some high praise, and securing Illuminatus slots at Download and Damnation (which I missed, damnit), it cemented the band's great reputation. And rightly so. It's catchy as hell and the bombardment of heavy beats, riffs and hooks is energising. I'd love to be in the crowd to see them play this album live. It might might be the most upbeat of subject matter, but it's definitely one to get the crowd going.

Several tracks stand out from the pack, including the aforementioned Murdocracy, Keep Calm And Carry On, Red and Clarity. The vocals are a mix of clean and screams and fit the style perfectly, giving the music and urgency and an energy that's infectious. The band shun the scenes, the bandwagons and fashions of the times, steering clear of genre labels and the associated assumptions. This shows through in the simple honestly of the style. It's pure heavy metal, with guitar solos, epic riffs and thundering drums, while still being both melodic and atmospheric with a progginess shining through on many of the songs.

The album slows down toward the end, with Clarity having a much more classic rock feel to it, giving a different perspective on the album. The energy of the beginning of the album dissipates, but with some crushing riffs and amazing guitar work providing a slower, yet no less heavy experience. The bombardment eases, leading to a slow nodding of the head to the wail of the guitars, the steady rhythm of the drum and the soft pitter-patter of the cymbal. Slower, yet no less powerful, and picking up again right at the end of Wolves! to end the album as it began.

Having been thoroughly impressed by Glasnost, and having used it to rock out in the car while stuck in traffic on my way home in an evening, I shall be checking out the band's earlier material. The band's upcoming gig list is a little sparse (actually it's completely empty) but I'll be keeping an eye out for them in the future. Cracking stuff.

New Anathema? Available for pre-order!

I've obviously taken my eye off the ball when it comes to Anathema. I only found out about Falling Deeper the week before it was released, and here I find that there was a new album announced in December and I completely missed that, too.

Titled "Weather Systems", the new album is a follow-up to 2010's We're Here Because We're Here. Daniel Cavanagh has said that the album will be one of polarities; light and shade, life and death, love and fear. This time the album was mastered and produced by Christer-André Cederberg rather than Steven Wilson, so it will be interesting to see what a difference it may make to the sound. Lee Douglas's vocals will also have more of a presence on Weather Systems as her contribution to the band continues to increase.

The track listing as presented on Kscope's buy page is:

1. Untouchable Part 1 (6.14)
2. Untouchable Part 2 (5.33)
3. The Gathering Of The Clouds (3.27)
4. Lightning Song (5.25)
5. Sunlight (4.55)
6. The Storm Before The Calm (9.24)
7. The Beginning And The End (4.53)
8. The Lost Child (7.02)
9. Internal Landscapes (8.52)

Weather Systems isn't out until April 9th, but it's available to pre-order now from Kscope. I'm sure more details will be added to the band's website as the release date gets closer.

Alcest - Les Voyages de l'Âme

I forget where I first heard it, but when I was introduced to the concept of shoegazer black metal, I knew it would be something I'd fall in love with. Having been a fan of post-metal for some time, and in recent months having found a renewed affinity with the more esoteric sub-genres of black metal, I almost knew what to expect from Alcest's latest album, Les Voyages de l'Âme (The Journeys Of The Soul), before I ever heard it. It did not disappoint.

Alcest have been around for quite a while, in one guise or another, although starting life as a solo project of Neige (Stéphane Paut) in 2000. Originally a black metal band, the band has slowly been moving away from straight black metal into an otherworldly mix of dense soundscapes, post-metal grooves and black metal influences. The concept behind the band's direction are childhood memories of distant, imaginary worlds.

“Alcest - that is music from another world, a world that is real, but that exists beyond ours and cannot be grasped by our senses. A world where all appearances - trees, glades, streams - emit a pearly light and where a faraway and celestial music fills the air like sweet perfume. A world inhabited by infinitely benevolent and protective beings of light, communicating in a wordless 'language' directly from one soul to another. A world where the soul knows neither pain nor sickness nor sorrow, but is filled with a deep peace and an ineffable bliss. A world that lies 'before' and 'after,' 'beside' and 'behind' our world and the awareness of which stills mankind's fears of death.” http://www.alcest-music.com/

Despite my GCSE grade French not being up to the task, the French lyrics pose no problem in enjoying the musical experience. The production is densely layered, and the mix of clean and screamed vocals merge in and out of the droning, resounding guitars, making them an integral part of the music. The drum work, too, comes forward, and fades away, carrying the heartbeat of the songs as the melody carries the spirit. The imagery is easy to get lost in, despite the specifics being lost on me, and the tone and soft melodies are almost hypnotic.

The music is not, as most black metal derivatives, depressing or angry. There is melancholy, or at least nostalgia, caught up in what can only be described as an uplifting, if somewhat unreal, experience. As with other shoegazing music, I find it easy to listen to this music before sleep, to guarantee a pleasant, peaceful night. This album has been described as a culmination of what Alcest is about, and eschews dark imagery in favour of lighter refrains. The music seems to completely embrace the listener, but never feels heavy or stressful.

All things considered, it's hard to find fault with Les Voyages… at all. Despite several listens, the songs do seem to run together somewhat, so I can't imagine listening to any one track in isolation. It's all or nothing with this album, but then, I suppose that's the nature of this type of music. A 50 minute musical journey to fairyland, and not understanding a word of it.

Metal En Route

It's been a quiet sort of a January. I've not really had a great deal of time for finding the new and the terribly exciting. Fortunately it appears that there are some amazing albums in store for 2012. Death metal from Bloodbath Barren Earth (oops) , Before The Dawn, Mithras and Paradise Lost. Symphonic metal from Epica, Delain and Pythia. In fact, I could just post a single up-coming album a day and it'd probably carry me through to the end of the year. 2012 is going to rock.

And to get it all started, I have 3 new musical morsels winging their way to my doormat so I can savour them properly. In no particular order, except the order in which they were ordered, here's what I have to look forward to this week.

Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme

Starting off with a bit of French shoegazery, Alcest recently popped up on my radar via Terrorizer magazine. With a mix of prog rock, black metal and post-metal thrown in, it's a little bit of everything but somehow just sounds like itself. I'm a sucker for mid-tempo atmospheric rock that overwhelms you with layers upon layers of sound that work their way into your mind and provide a perfect chill out. Alcest fits the bill nicely.

Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest And The Blackbird

They're a death/doom band. They're from Finland. The have an enigmatically titled new album. This is going to be soul-crushingly bleak. But it's also going to be awesome. I've had a sneaky preview of a few tracks, including Cathedral Walls, which has guest vocals from Nightwish's Anette Olzon. It's a gentle number, to be sure, and even the growled bits are somewhat disquieting. An interesting diversion from their usual style, which is still present on other tracks like Hate, Lead The Way.

Illuminatus - Glasnost

A fairly recent discovery (as recent as yesterday), Illuminatus have been described as being a sort of cross between Alternative4 era Anathema and Devin Townsend's more recent works. While I can't really see it, it was enough to pique my interest. What I actually heard was a sort of beautifully complex progressive rock album with a good amount of metal riffage and a healthy dollop of guitar noodling to boot. And as you will see on the video, they're a pretty well turned out bunch, too.