Review by Lawrence Stillman on December 2, 2023.

There are very few bands that can instill a very powerful urge within a listener to drop everything they are doing and listen to the album they are listening to with full attention. It can be something as simple as an awe-inspiring and catchy riff, or it can be something more complex and emotional, like this album by Swallow the Sun. It was easily my AOTY for 2019. It managed to captivate me to such a degree that it cannot be replicated until a certain album by a certain band is released in June 2022 (I'll let you guess which album it is).

To say that this album is a masterpiece would be an understatement; it has a very unique atmosphere and feel to its music that can only come from a truly tragic and heartbreaking circumstance. But as Juha Raivio (the album's main composer) said, the reason behind this album's creation is not to give in to his grief over losing his lover to cancer but as a tool to lead him out of the cycle of emotional pain and despair, fighting back against the feelings of loss of a loved one.

The entire album's lyrics and music are about the death of Aleah Stanbridge and the five stages of grief that came with it, and thus it is the slowest piece of work STS has ever done, sometimes bordering on funeral doom (maybe that was their intention), but that does not mean it is bad by any means. It is still as crushing and heavy as it once was, but the extra layer of grief and sorrow permeating through the album gives it a special kind of pulverisation that most bands cannot replicate, thus making it stand out among the death/doom scene. The lyrics here are very existentialist, very DSBM-like; it feels more like a spiritual advisor trying his best to drag Juha out of his despair of losing his girlfriend. It reads like something Wrest would write for Leviathan or Lurker of Chalice since all three projects have an album that was motivated by the loss of a loved one.

For the instruments, it is the best STS has ever sounded up until this point; every instrument feels very powerful and rich. The clean vocals have a bigger presence within the album, while the harsh vocals take a backseat, making this album more doom-adjacent than death-adjacent. The guitar melodies do reflect this as well, as they are even more melody-centric, having a lot of clean passages instead of the more riff-centric songwriting that the heavier death/doom bands would do, like Druid Lord. The drums here, despite featuring absolutely zero blast beats within a death/doom album, still have a large presence here by virtue of the sounds and the drum fills, having a very rich sound that makes every impact sound crushing and oppressive, further drilling in the feeling of sorrow and grief this album presents. As for the bass, live strings, and keyboards, they are the best things that came out for this album. The keyboards here take a more atmospheric, backseat approach for this album, just like the bass, but occasionally the guitars stop playing and just let the keyboard, strings, and bass take over as the lead melodies while Juha sings in the background. These passages are often the most memorable part of the album for me, as they are the ones that bring out the message and feelings of the album the best.

For the production, it is also the best album to listen to within STS' whole discography; everything here sounds pristine and clear; no instruments are too forward in the mix to the point of overpowering other instruments; and some instruments retreat within the mix to make way for other instruments in order to put extra emphasis on certain parts to make the passage sound more complete. It is the logical conclusion of most melodic death/doom albums that want to sound clean; everything is here in full display, with nothing hidden away.

This 52-minute masterpiece has to be heard by everyone who loves death metal and doom metal, despite the album being mostly doom metal and death metal making an uncommon appearance here and there. It has a very raw and primal energy that can only manifest through the death of a loved one. As long as this album exists, the memory of Aleah Stanbridge will always live on, just as Juha wanted all along.

Highlights: All songs

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by George on March 2, 2020.

There's a certain emotion that very, very few bands are able to instill in me - a sense of pure wonder so powerful that I'm forced to drop everything I'm doing and just listen to the music in awe. It's the same profound fascination I get from staring at the stars in a night sky, a oneness with nature and the world around me. It makes me ponder existentialism in the best way possible, filling me with determination and reinforcing my goal to make as much of my life as possible. Since we're so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, we can forge our own purpose and get as much fulfillment out of our short time on Earth as we can. Ultimately, it makes me grateful to be alive.

Paradoxically, the only record to come out of 2019 that's evoked that feeling in me is probably the darkest of them all. At its core, the album is a harrowing expression of the emotions which followed the death of main songwriter Juha Raivio's wife. However, that's not all there is to it. Abounding despair shrouded every moment of the conception of When a Shadow is Forced into the Light, but rather than embrace the hopelessness as so many other doom acts would, Juha created the album as, in his own words, "a weapon for myself, a burning torch, victorious and proud." So that's what this is really about. It's fighting back against the shadows that surround you, it's finding the hope in despair and the wonder in bleakness.

As personal of a concept as that is, though, it wouldn't have meant anything if it hadn't been executed well. Luckily, 'well' doesn't even begin to cut it here. The instruments create an otherworldly atmosphere unlike any other I've heard before while the lyrics create emotions ranging from despair and resignation in the brutal title track to the aforementioned existentialist wonder in 'The Crimson Crown'. The vocals are brilliant all around - Mikko's blackened screams convey pain perfectly while his more mellow cleans can express a range of feelings, from solace to acceptance to longing. The guitars provide a strong foundation, a constant source of melody but also impactful heaviness. They control the pace of the album, either driving it forward or slowing down to allow moments of introspection.

Additionally, the lower end is really given room to breathe and shine. There are several sections where the guitars completely drop away and allow the subtle synths and bass to take the lead. As seems to be a theme on the album, this element is used in incredibly varied ways. The quiet sections in 'The Crimson Crown' immerse you in a strange fantasy world; it feels expansive and makes me ponder the infinite reaches of our cosmos and what wonders there are to be discovered out there (an effect added to by the lyrics which tell a fantastical creation story - in fact the chorus of this song is where I first felt that profound, enlightened awe I mentioned in the introduction). This couldn't be more different from the quieter parts in 'Firelights'. These are flawlessly designed to invoke unease, combining distorted bass, whispered vocals and the subtle integration of a bell tolling. It's once again completely unworldly, but this time you're not entering an oasis of wonder, you're trapped on an island in an ocean of nightmares. This world has only ever known bleakness and death, and it's up to you to fight back. To find the firelights.

Ultimately, I could sing this album's praises all day. I could dissect the meanings and subtleties woven into every track, but that'd make the review too long. There are highlights everywhere, too many to list, and the experience is in equal parts intensely heartfelt and painfully harrowing. The style stays consistent throughout, but new elements are added just often enough to keep it varied, my favourite examples being the cellos and violins that come in on 'Stone Wings' and the uplifting narration that ends 'Clouds on your Side'. I'll be honest, the latter track had me in tears by the end. A softly spoken passage in the language of romance, a reassuring message of perseverance written by Juha's wife... it's beautiful. Here Aleah Starbridge's soul is living on through her words, shining radiantly to give her lover the courage he needs to face a world without her. Death may be stronger than life, but love is stronger than death.

Before now there were eight metal albums I'd ever deemed worthy of a perfect score. I've just found the ninth.

Rating: 10 out of 10