Finnish death doom pioneers SWALLOW THE SUN release their newest single “Enemy”, taken off their upcoming album Moonflowers, which will be released worldwide on November 19th via Century Media Records. Compared to the dark and mournful “Woven Into Sorrow”, their latest single release, “Enemy”, presents the heavier and more dramatic side of the album without seeming less sad and gloomy. Watch the video, which was produced by Dronicon Films, below.
Moonflowers will be available as Ltd. Deluxe sky blue 3LP+2CD & Art Print Box Set, Ltd. 2CD Mediabook, Gatefold black 2LP+CD and digital album (incl. Bonus album) and can be pre-ordered HERE.
In all the silence, Finnish death doom masters, SWALLOW THE SUN, have written, recorded and mixed a new album called “Moonflowers”. It is done and ready and will be released on November 19th, 2021.
Along with some of the album formats, there will also come a full bonus album featuring very special instrumental versions of all the regular album tracks. This instrumental album has been composed for strings and recorded at Sipoo Church in Finland. The strings were performed by the group called “Trio NOX” from Finland.
Starting today, all these instrumental songs will be launched as animated videos, which were created by Dronicon Films. One by one every week, leading up to the first single release of the main album.
Juha Raivio comments:
“I know well that I should not say this, but I deeply hate this album. I hate where it takes me, how it makes me feel and what it stands for me personally. I wish it wouldn’t. But for all its honesty I got no option than also love it. That is all that matters to me with the music anyway and it doesn’t matter how it makes me feel, as long as it does. For me this album is like a mirror of a deep self-disappointment. Even I still want to believe that there is and could be more than this in me. But I don’t need or want to talk more about it. After all music means so different things to each one of us by how we have walked our own paths, and that is a beautiful thing about music. There is no right or wrong.
After I had finished writing all the music for this record in the fall of 2020 I started to write these small instrumental versions of the album songs for the violin, viola, cello and piano. Mostly because I was wondering how it would feel like to hear all these songs first as these intimate versions instead of a full band album. It was really beautiful to see and hear these songs come alive in this way and form, recorded live in this big church in Finland. To be able to hear the echoes of this music reflecting from the church walls and feel the very soul of these old wooden instruments played by real people in this sacred place. Something about hearing the strings breathe this fragile beauty into these songs that carry so much pain otherwise. Now looking back, maybe I wrote these versions just for myself to be able to hear and feel at least some kind of a beauty and solace in these songs, maybe…
I wanted to create the cover art of this album myself this time, so it would stand as brutally honest for me as the music is. So I painted the moon on the ‘Moonflowers‘ cover with my own blood and I decorated it with the flowers I picked up and dried on the spring of 2016. Maybe it isn’t the most outstanding looking piece of art ever made in this world, but for me it is everything. I wasn’t going to write any new music before I would have moved towards the right direction in my life, but finally all this music just forced itself out of me during the long nights of this hope crushing and neverending lockdown prison. Something grew out from that void eventually and writing these songs made me think a lot about moonflowers that bloom at the darkest hour of the night, so that name felt right to call the album also.
All my love to you, take care.
-Juha Raivio-“
“Moonflowers” tracklist:
1. Moonflowers Bloom In Misery
2. Enemy
3. Woven Into Sorrow
4. Keep Your Heart Safe From Me
5. All Hallows’ Grieve (Featuring Cammie Gilbert)
6. The Void
7. The Fight Of Your Life
8. This House Has No Home
Raivio further states, “In other news, unfortunately our busy brother Jaani will step aside from the band at least for this new album cycle, but we are happy to tell that you can hear Jaani’s backing vocals on the new album anyway.”
Jaani Peuhu adds, “Sadly, Corona virus messed up everything including the release schedules of my bands. Both the Mercury Circle and Swallow The Sun albums are being released at the same time, making it impossible for me to tour with both bands. For this reason, I decided that it’d be better for me to solely focus on MC for this release cycle.
That being said, the upcoming Swallow The Sun album will be amazing, and
I am so happy we could still do it together. I wish the best of luck to
Finnish melancholy death-doom metal masters Swallow The Sun have just announced their North American headline tour today. The band will be on tour this Spring with special guests Infected Rain and Wheel. Catch the band on tour starting April 20th in Tampa and ending on May 24th in Dallas. Tickets are available for purchase HERE.
“We have been touring many times in North America since 2007 but never headlined before this,” states Swallow The Sun’s Mikko Kotamäki about the upcoming headline tour. “So it’s about time to play you a decent length shows, not just 30-45min like before. Better get your tickets now and spread the word. No excuses, you asked for it, you got it! See you soon!”
The band will be touring in support of their most recent full-length album When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light. Swallow The Sun’s seventh studio album was produced by the band’s very own Jaani Peuhu and Juha Raivio and is their most personal, cleanest work to date. Purchase and stream When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light, which Heavy Blog Is Heavy calls “songwriting perfection”, HERE.
Swallow The Sun is Mikko Kotamaki (vocals), Matti Honkonen (bass), Juuso Raatkainen (drums), Jaani Peuhu (keys and vocals), Juho Raiha (guitar), and Juha Raivio (guitar and keys).
Posted by JDKleinhans on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 9:05 PM (PST)
Welcome to Metal Riot’s Cover Art Battle! Every week we try and show the best-of-the-best in metal cover art, ranging from the fantastically illustrated to hauntingly photographed and everything in between.
Another week, more album cover art to discover. New bands. Tenured bands. Enough shenanigans. Time for you to go and vote.
That is all.
Don’t forget to like us on our Facebook page to stay up to date on this and future Cover Art Battles and look through our gallery of past winners with comments from the bands.
***WINNER*** Sylencer – A Lethal Dose Of Truth (Sylencer)
Posted by SeanB on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 8:03 AM (PST)
Finnish epic doom metal collective Swallow The Sun are streaming a new track from their soon to be released (in North America) album Emerald Forest and the Blackbird. The song is called “Labyrinth of London (Horror Pt. IV)” and you can find it streaming by clicking right here. Emerald Forest and the Blackbird is set for a September 4, 2012 Spinefarm Records release in North America and has already received much acclaim since it’s recent release in Europe.
Swallow The Sun has had a long running lyrical connotation with the television series Twin Peaks and this song is no exception. The band recently quoted the series when asked about the track: “Dark. Laughing. The owls were flying. Many things were blocked. Laughing. The owls were near. The dark was pressing in on her. Quiet then. Later, footsteps. One man passed by. Screams far away. Terrible, terrible. One voice.”
In support of the album Swallow The Sun will be embarking on fall North American tour with German metal legends Kreator and Accept. The tour is being called The Teutonic Terror Attack and additional support will come from Canadian death metal group Blackgaurd.
There are some bands more adept at riding the chaos than others in the storied history of underground music. From noise and hardcore pioneers like Steel Pole Bathtub to Man Is The Bastard to synth/indie/post-core bands like Six Finger Satellite to numerous grindcore bands like Fuck The Facts, etc.- some groups just embody the concept of "fuck it/let's really go for it" more than others. NY's Black Mesa sits proudly in that same spirit of frenzy and ferocious inventiveness, as evidenced by their recent compilation of insanely manic live performances. Whatever sub genre they throw in the emotional blender, you are bound to enjoy a deliciously nutritious smoothie of muddy sonic punk purée.
