Swallow the Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird
This was a tough review. So much so that I found myself revisiting these Finnish gloom lords’ entire back catalog. Sure enough it was exactly how I remembered, a damn fine body of work. Nearly impeccable, in fact, the only “mistake” Swallow the Sun ever made was letting Jonas Renkse lend his perfect voice to one of their songs, rendering all the others mortal. Joking aside, the reason for the memory lane stroll pains me to say, but I’m not really feeling Emerald Forest and the Blackbird as much. I’ve given it as much time as possible, hoping the material would start to sink in with repeated listens, but for the most part it hasn’t. The band have not really abandoned their comfort zone at all —this is essentially the same formula as 2009’s New Moon— on the contrary, I believe they may be trapped in it. The answer might lie in a line from by far the album’s greatest track (“Cathedral Walls”): “…where do we go from here?” Perhaps it’s no coincidence that this is the only song that ultimately feels like the Swallow the Sun of old, with its depressive majesty and dynamic power. And while I won’t be tracking down all the Nightwish albums anytime soon, I must say Anette Olzon’s guest vocal performance compliments this song perfectly. Sadly, no other cuts successfully permeate the mindlair. It’s not like any of them are horrible —save for maybe the opening title track, which feels like a 10-minute intro— they just slightly miss the mark. So much of this LP feels like the same sleepy, acoustic-driven ballad with echoes of Pink Floyd amidst its swaying Waltz, just waiting for the ensuing Death/Doom heaviness explosion to wake it up. Mikko Kotamaki has one of the best clean voice/Doom growl combos in the business, but his spoken word and Black Metal shriek I can do without, as they mar some tracks that are otherwise serviceable. Honestly it’s difficult to put my finger on why all but the one song fail to be memorable. All of the pieces are still there for this great band, who quite frankly just sound tired. I wouldn’t write them off yet though. This might just be a clearing of the creative cobwebs, meaning their next one could be something truly special.
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