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Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)
https://forum.metal-archives.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=132414
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Author:  Kalaratri [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:35 am ]
Post subject:  Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Melodic death/doom metallers Swallow the Sun will release their eighth studio album, Moonflowers, on November 19 through Century Media Records. From the press release:

Quote:
Finnish death doom metallers SWALLOW THE SUN will release a new album called "Moonflowers" on November 19. 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.

Guitarist 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."


Image

Tracklisting:
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

The instrumental version of Moonflowers Bloom In Misery has been released:

Spoiler: show


I'm definitely interested in the direction Swallow the Sun take the new material. When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light was noticeably lighter than their usual sound (with the exception of Songs From The North II) and I wonder if they're going to continue in that direction or go a heavier route based on Juha's comments. It's cool that we're getting instrumental versions of all of the tracks, I think this is the first time they've done this.

Author:  MikeyC [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

I'm interested. I fell away from this band but came back to them after their ambitious Songs From the North. Their last album was a huge surprise for me, too. Hopefully it follows what they did there.

Author:  lordcatfish [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 12:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Great band. I will check this out for sure. Very impressed with their last few albums.

Author:  LithoJazzoSphere [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

It's refreshing when artists speak more honestly about their work. The hyper-positive PR machine routine many go into can become monotonous. My interest is especially piqued with Cammie Gilbert's guest appearance. She's really been making the rounds lately, and is one of the best newer vocalists.

Author:  Twisted_Psychology [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

LithoJazzoSphere wrote:
It's refreshing when artists speak more honestly about their work. The hyper-positive PR machine routine many go into can become monotonous. My interest is especially piqued with Cammie Gilbert's guest appearance. She's really been making the rounds lately, and is one of the best newer vocalists.


I'm down for some reverse psychology in my album marketing. A Cammie Gilbert appearance is also an instant win.

Author:  colin040 [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Twisted_Psychology wrote:
LithoJazzoSphere wrote:
It's refreshing when artists speak more honestly about their work. The hyper-positive PR machine routine many go into can become monotonous. My interest is especially piqued with Cammie Gilbert's guest appearance. She's really been making the rounds lately, and is one of the best newer vocalists.


I'm down for some reverse psychology in my album marketing.


Got to admit reading that gave me a good laugh! :lol:

Author:  Empyreal [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

He seems to be talking about some deeply personal issues he has with himself and his own art, but I think it'd be funny if someone else in another press release just came out like "yeah, we half assed the fuck out of this album, but here it is."

I only heard Hope years ago. I did like the Trees of Eternity album, should try more StS.

Author:  Kalaratri [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Well, to be fair I don't think he believes the music is substandard or anything, he just wrote it during one of the darkest times in his life under lockdown and doesn't want to relive those days again. But that press release is certainly the polar opposite of the majority of the ones I see these days, that's for sure.

Author:  LithoJazzoSphere [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Empyreal wrote:
I think it'd be funny if someone else in another press release just came out like "yeah, we half assed the fuck out of this album, but here it is."


On at least one of the interviews for his later albums John Mayer pretty much just flat out said yeah, his latest wasn't nearly as good as Continuum. There's also the bit at the end of Type O Negative's October Rust where Peter says something like, "well, this was our new album, I hope it wasn't too disappointing".

Author:  Empyreal [ Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

I find that kind of thing refreshing, so many bands have to say their newest thing is by far their best ever, etc.

Author:  Pitiless Wanderer [ Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Devin Townsend also said that he "phoned in Alien," which is remarkable, because it's a great album.

I'm excited for this new StS record. The last album was the first of theirs to really grab me, and I hope the new one follows the same style.

Author:  Subrick [ Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Re: Bands phoning in albums

Cradle of Filth have said before that the Vempire EP was a total wash on their part, created solely to get out of their shitty record deal that ended in a lawsuit and the band splitting in half. I find that kind of astounding considering that the performances from each musician are top notch and the music overall is insane.

--

Don't really have any interest in the instrumental version of the album, so I don't really intend to listen to the pre-release songs until they release the vocal versions.

Author:  henkkjelle [ Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Pitiless Wanderer wrote:
Devin Townsend also said that he "phoned in Alien," which is remarkable, because it's a great album.


Huh that is suprising. I think he also called Alien the SYL record he's most proud of. But it was a super toxic record for him to make, so maybe his view on it tends to change now and then.

Author:  Invocation [ Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Twisted_Psychology wrote:
LithoJazzoSphere wrote:
It's refreshing when artists speak more honestly about their work. The hyper-positive PR machine routine many go into can become monotonous. My interest is especially piqued with Cammie Gilbert's guest appearance. She's really been making the rounds lately, and is one of the best newer vocalists.


I'm down for some reverse psychology in my album marketing. A Cammie Gilbert appearance is also an instant win.


If anything, the sort of negative talk in the press release ("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"... "For me this album is like a mirror of a deep self-disappointment.") could be considered hype for a doom metal album.

Author:  Kalaratri [ Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

They released the first proper single today.


Author:  Zephirus [ Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

only recently been getting into StS
i prefer the older albums but might give this some time
not bothered about the stings versions really

Author:  Kalaratri [ Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

The second single is out:


Author:  LithoJazzoSphere [ Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Pretty solid so far. I'm most excited for "All Hallows Grieve" with Cammie Gilbert. She's been making the rounds lately and just killing it everywhere, and it'll be interesting to see how Juha writes for a more powerful voice than he typically did with Aleah and such.

Author:  Pitiless Wanderer [ Sat Oct 23, 2021 5:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

I loved the last album, but the singles released for this one just don't grab me at all.

Author:  77hjrttfred [ Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

I actually haven't caught up with the last couple of albums, but own some of their earlier albums. I wasn't a big fan of 'New Moon', but really enjoyed the album afterwards called 'Emerald Forest And The Blackbird'. I seem to be in the minority on that one.

Author:  LithoJazzoSphere [ Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Hah, New Moon is probably my favorite, and EFatB my least. All of their music is good though, just fine gradations of quality.

Author:  LithoJazzoSphere [ Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

So, this album is absolutely stellar. '21 metal is still behind '20 right now, but this one definitely helps a bit.


Author:  LordOfTheGallows [ Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Listening to it now, another great album from these guys. We got a massive dump of snow where I live this week so this is a good soundtrack to that.

Author:  Benedict Donald [ Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Definitely a solid album....so melancholic.

Author:  Subrick [ Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Yeah, the album kicks ass. I think it's just one level below When a Shadow..., but that album was a once in a lifetime perfect piece of art IMO, so that still means Moonflowers is in the top echelon of Swallow the Sun albums.

Author:  jimbies [ Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

Just finished my first listen. Honestly, a little underwhelmed but to put a positive spin on things, the opener and closer are both fucking wild. This House Has No Home ripped my throat out.

Author:  Metal_Jaw [ Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

I think this needs to grow on me a bit. It seems just a tad too much softer than the last album, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Still, the first 3 tracks especially are pretty rad.

Author:  Morphine1873 [ Fri Nov 26, 2021 8:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers (November 19, 2021)

One of their most boring, together with Hope, imo.

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