Swallow The Sun
Spillestedet Stengade, Copenhagen - 2019
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
What better way to spend Halloween, than with some dark, doomy, gloomy metal? I don’t know, so let’s tip our heads in thanks to Swallow The Sun for stopping by Copenhagen on this very special night. And thanks to Spillestedet Stengade for housing them.
As you can imagine, it was a cold night outside, but inside the tight Copenhagen venue, it was heating up with the aid of the two support bands, October Tide and Oceanwake. Thus I almost felt bad for the band with their choice of stage attire - a long shirt / frock like garment, with large hoods pulled up, so as to nearly cover the faces of the musicians. That must have been quite a sweaty affair!
Musically, the band opened with a taped slow, melodious tune playing. The sold out venue raised a cheer, and the band came on and began playing. They opened with the title track of their latest album, When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light, and it proved crushing, to say the least!
The sound was surprisingly good, although the vocals were much too low in the beginning, making them nearly inaudible. This was corrected by the time we reached the first growl however, and was kept better in place through the rest of the show. Thankfully, this made more sonic room for the beautiful vocal harmonies between vocalist Mikko Kotamäki and the newly arrived keyboardist (well, last year) Jaani Peuhu.
Performance-ways, the band did good.
Kotamäki held the show tight, with nearly forsaking in-between song banter, keeping it to introduce a song name once in a while. No matter, it was during the songs that the band really shone, not between them. At first, it was merely getting into the feeling, with a slow rocking attitude, but the band warmed up, and became as active as the music would allow them. Bassist Matti Honkonen tried his hand at a direct audience interaction, as he successfully got people clapping along to New Moon. Guitarist Juho Räihä also got a good connection going, as he opened up more to the crowd towards the end of the show.
The fact that I’m not mentioning the rest, should not be taken as though they didn’t do anything - they certainly did. It was, however, not necessarily in such a direct connection with the audience, but rather with a deep-felt connection to the music. That holds a power all to its own as well.
All of us here at Metalmoments have been quite enamoured with Swallow The Sun from our first meeting so many years ago, and tonight’s show only helped to solidify this feeling even more. The concert was strong, emotional, and absolutely everything we had hoped for, and a little more.
Setlist:
When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light
Lost & Catatonic
Firelights
Cathedral Walls
Clouds On Your Side
Upon The Water
New Moon
Stone Wings
Deadly Nightshade
Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
Don’t Fall Asleep (Horror Pt. II)
Swallow (Horror Pt. I)
As you can imagine, it was a cold night outside, but inside the tight Copenhagen venue, it was heating up with the aid of the two support bands, October Tide and Oceanwake. Thus I almost felt bad for the band with their choice of stage attire - a long shirt / frock like garment, with large hoods pulled up, so as to nearly cover the faces of the musicians. That must have been quite a sweaty affair!
Musically, the band opened with a taped slow, melodious tune playing. The sold out venue raised a cheer, and the band came on and began playing. They opened with the title track of their latest album, When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light, and it proved crushing, to say the least!
The sound was surprisingly good, although the vocals were much too low in the beginning, making them nearly inaudible. This was corrected by the time we reached the first growl however, and was kept better in place through the rest of the show. Thankfully, this made more sonic room for the beautiful vocal harmonies between vocalist Mikko Kotamäki and the newly arrived keyboardist (well, last year) Jaani Peuhu.
Performance-ways, the band did good.
Kotamäki held the show tight, with nearly forsaking in-between song banter, keeping it to introduce a song name once in a while. No matter, it was during the songs that the band really shone, not between them. At first, it was merely getting into the feeling, with a slow rocking attitude, but the band warmed up, and became as active as the music would allow them. Bassist Matti Honkonen tried his hand at a direct audience interaction, as he successfully got people clapping along to New Moon. Guitarist Juho Räihä also got a good connection going, as he opened up more to the crowd towards the end of the show.
The fact that I’m not mentioning the rest, should not be taken as though they didn’t do anything - they certainly did. It was, however, not necessarily in such a direct connection with the audience, but rather with a deep-felt connection to the music. That holds a power all to its own as well.
All of us here at Metalmoments have been quite enamoured with Swallow The Sun from our first meeting so many years ago, and tonight’s show only helped to solidify this feeling even more. The concert was strong, emotional, and absolutely everything we had hoped for, and a little more.
Setlist:
When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light
Lost & Catatonic
Firelights
Cathedral Walls
Clouds On Your Side
Upon The Water
New Moon
Stone Wings
Deadly Nightshade
Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
Don’t Fall Asleep (Horror Pt. II)
Swallow (Horror Pt. I)
