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Rating: Ah, I still remember the distant times when I bought "The Morning Never Came," the debut of Swallow The Sun, from my trusted retailer. I still remember the shocking effect that album had on me. I could hardly believe it: a Doom/Death Metal band that didn't copy My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost like carbon paper!
It was on the momentum of the debut/masterpiece and the impending release of the 3rd album "Hope" that I also acquired the band's second studio album released in 2003: "Ghosts Of Loss."
Maybe I listened to this album the wrong way, or perhaps I got too excited with the debut. The fact remains that this work was for me a great disappointment. To be clear: we're dealing with a really well-played album by all members, technically perfect and with a top-notch production, but unfortunately, it doesn’t make an impact and mostly drags on wearily with inexplicable voids.
Where "The Morning Never Came" was engaging and emotional, "Ghosts Of Loss" suffers from what is a serious flaw for a Doom band: it's terribly boring; certain songs leave nothing behind even after dozens of listens.
The genre proposed is the same and the band's sound hasn't changed. It's still a very melodic Doom Metal style reminiscent of My Dying Bride and early Paradise Lost but much more majestic and bombastic with extensive use of keyboards. And Swallow The Sun haven't forgotten how to write great pieces as demonstrated by tracks like "Descending Winters," for which a video was made (though not that great), melodic yet dark and distressing at the same time. Another excellent track is "Psychopath's Lair" with riffing that strongly recalls Candlemass. But excluding these two gems and partly the massive opener "The Giant," there is the utmost monotony. The tracks are indistinguishable from one another and do not engage. Listening soon becomes boring and very hard to assimilate.
Some sudden flashes save "Ghosts Of Loss" from being brutally torn down. However, the formal quality of the album does not erase the disappointment. I repeat, likely, the album suffers greatly from the comparison with the wonderful "The Morning Never Came" that preceded it. If, absurdly, the order of release had been reversed and "Ghosts Of Loss" had come out first, I would probably speak of it in entirely different terms. The fact is that now Swallow The Sun are called to the trial by fire with the new "Hope" (which will be released on February 7, 2007, and which I will review as soon as possible) which will necessarily have to be a masterpiece to achieve that milestone I predicted for them after "The Morning Never Came," namely the role of leader of the new Doom/Death Metal scene and most credible heirs to the (though very different and unattainable) My Dying Bride.
Missteps can happen in the career of a band that is really young, and we hope they won't be forgotten but valued and taken as a cue to improve.
Awaiting "Hope"...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Psychopath's Lair (05:52)
Wash your hands
And light the candles
Turn the lights out
And I'll turn the music on
I'll serve you food you've never tasted before
And after the midnight hour
I'll treat you like a real man should
This is a portrait of a clear mind
The profile of my kind
I'll bring flames on your face
And when I'm done
You'll become one of mine
Her eyes shine like the glow of the sun
As she poses without a shame
But if only she could know
Where she has come...
This is a portrait of a clear mind
The profile of my kind
I'll bring flames on your face
And when I'm done
You'll become one of mine
I'll take you down to psycopath's lair
I'll drag you there, to the psychopath's lair
I'll take you down, down to the psycopath's lair
This is a portrait of a clear mind
The profile of my kind
I'll bring flames on your face
And when I'm done
You'll become one of mine
04 Forgive Her... (08:59)
Sinking in the depths of her warm caress
But the dagger I hide won't shed forgiveness
Her secret is revealed or am I wrong
Though her flesh is weak, my hand is strong
There slow days and endless nights
I've learned her ways
There open wounds and bleeding scars
Led me to her burning trails
I've been watching her silent sleep
Catching names through her sleep
The truth that lurks behind those eyes
When she grabs her pillow tight
So stay with me awhile and enjoy the fire
The flames that blaze in my eyes
Are your jury and your last trial
I've been watching her silent sleep
Catching names through her sleep
The vipers dance around her neck
When she slowly turns her cheek
It's getting late to leave this all
For I have found the cure
The burning touch of her innocence
And her eyes so pure
I could love her but I can't forgive her
So it slowly slides inside her...
08 The Ship (08:54)
It came with the nightfall
The dark that swallowed the stars
One by one it painted them black
And brought horror to our hearts
It came down in the shape of rain
A wall of black waters
Spreading the end to the earth below
And I ran and left them all
Away from those dying voices
I escape the eye of the doom
The triumph of fear and ending lives
And I left them all and ran
Until I reached the shore
The waves greeted me with majestic mourn
To the sea I shed my last hope
And the ocean carried me away
The sound of ending world was fading
Until I only heard my heart in despair
Closed my eyes and fell into a sleep
Relieving dream of the distant sun
"Awake" whispered the sea
And my tearful eyes were open
The crystal night sky shone like water
The roof of eternity, ballet of million stars
But as I turned my eyes down to the horizon
The stars were fading one by one...
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