EP Review: Swallow the Sun – Lumina Aurea (Century Media Records)

Finnish melancholy death-doom metal masters Swallow the Sun will release their new album ‘When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light’ on January 25th, 2019. Only one month earlier, on December 21st, they will release a standalone 14-minutes epic single track called ‘Lumina Aurea’, as 12” EP vinyl version.

Fueled by personal loss (the album title has its origins in Trees of Eternity’s “Broken Mirror”) and powered by the will to continue, “When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light” showcases the group’s ability to maintain its signature sound while expanding upon horizons and diving deeper into the crevasse of doom-death metal.

Even though the single and the album are conceptually connected, they are musically completely different.

Lumina Aurea (featuring Wardruna’s Einar Selvik and The Foreshadowing’s Marco I. Benevento) marks the darkest and most sinister piece of music the band has ever released.

The foreboding and ancient sounds that introduce us to the 14 minute Lumina Aurea delivers on the promise of a sinister listen. By time the echoing pound of a drum sounds, you’ll be convinced death and destruction is just around the corner. It builds in atmosphere as we get hypnotic chanting followed by a spoken word sections.

As it goes on it slowly begins to transform from haunting beauty to devilishly evilness and the sense of discomfort is heightened. The doom elements begin to step forward creating a booming impact that rattles the skull followed by a level of gothic horror that shocks as much as it intrigues.

It’s such a fascinating track, so much so that trying to put into words what it is, is no easy task. It’s completely about atmosphere and certainly creates anticipation for the album.

If that wasn’t enough, we also get an completely instrumental version too which just removes the spoken word and chants. It might seem a bit of a pointless addition but what we get here is a chance to focus solely on the effects and noises that are the meat of the track. No distractions, all laid bare for us to hear and try and understand.

Swallow the Sun – Lumina Aurea Full Track Listing:

1. Lumina Aurea
2. Lumina Aurea (instrumental version)

You can find out everything you need to know about Swallow the Sun by checking out their website, Facebook Page and Instagram.