Tag Swallow The Sun
There’s certainly an early 90’s vibe about Red Eleven’s sound. The soulful mid-range vocals and inimitable groove that runs throughout their third album “Collect Your Scars” is very indicative of that era, but Red Eleven are from Finland…and that means… Continue Reading →
I have heard so many good things about Swallow the Sun over the years but somehow always managed to miss them when they played live. It’s redemption time now as “Songs from the North” is a triple album, each transmitting… Continue Reading →
Sumptuous, billowing melodic doom here from this young Ukrainian outfit, ‘All Alone with the Thoughts’ is a surprisingly deft and mature debut. The album artwork, title and song titles may be a little bit floppy (‘Being Lonely’? Really?) but we… Continue Reading →
Speaking with my British Metal Musician and Fan’s hat on (available from all good retailers kids…), it’s slightly irksome that the UK has given little to the Metal World of major influence since the early 80’s. It’s OK, it’s fine,… Continue Reading →
“Finland, Finland, Finland, a country where I’d quite like to be!” Why the Monty Python quote, you may ask? Firstly, as a humorous counterpoint to the dark journey undertaken by listening to ‘Tulijoutsen’ (translates as something like Fire Swan, hence… Continue Reading →
Following up their 2012 début album ‘Uljas Uusi Maailma’ with the 4 track EP ‘Musta Aurinko Nousee’, Finnish quintet Kuolemanlaakso (Finnish for “Death Valley”) comprising of founder and guitarist/keyboardist and main songwriter Laakso (Chaosweaver), vocalist Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun, Barren… Continue Reading →
A gloomy cover with a beautiful unblemished face looming out from amidst the autumnal leaves of a shallow grave and an album title called ‘Glad To Be Dead.’ There’s something poetic about the concept and that’s before we get anywhere… Continue Reading →
Majalis is a project of both Tobias Netzell and Björn Pettersson of Swedish melodic/prog death metal band In Mourning. Apparently it was shelved for several years due to excessive commitments in their main day job, but I’m glad they’ve finally… Continue Reading →
Early Katatonia. For those of us ‘of a certain vintage’ (i.e. the wrong side of 30), this is an expression that generally tends to bring a whimsical, comforting sense of nostalgia to mind, echoing reminiscence of pastel-hued, obscure misery metal…. Continue Reading →
Many, many bands with a black metal influence claim to be `dark, grim and bleak’ but only a few of them can deliver the goods in the way that they promise, often mistaking `terribly produced’ for `atmospheric’. Schattenbrandung are no… Continue Reading →
Cast your mind back to the last time you were due to sit an exam you had under-prepared for, henceforth resulting in last-minute revision cramming. Do you remember the ghastly sensation of reading over the same paragraphs again and again… Continue Reading →
Barren Earth are both a fairly new but also familiar sounding group whose fronds dig deep into the frozen soil of Finland and comprise members of many well known acts from the land synonymous with atmospheric doom and gloomy… Continue Reading →