Review by Adam M on June 29, 2010.

Swallow The Sun play Melodic Doom Metal in the vein of Paradise Lost, but often bring about more Death Metal like portions into the music. The result is a varied style that separates them slightly from other Doom Metal bands. The music carries a strong mournful tone that is appropriate for the style being performed. Swallow The Sun also adds in serene moments at times to vary the intensity of the tunes much like Opeth does. Overall, the band’s sound is rich and emotionally driven.

Track 2,'Falling World' shows the type of serene atmosphere the band is capable of portraying effectively. One can notice that it alternates between clean and harsh vocals to create a solid juxtaposition. Other tracks follow a similar route, but this one is as solid a demonstration of the band’s abilities as any other. At times, the band lets up on the gas a little too much or starts to fade into the background a bit, but for the most part the listener is kept interested by all that’s going on. If the band could push things further into consistently lamenting atmospherics they would be stronger still.

The album has enough elements to make it a solid, well-rounded disc even though it falls slightly short of being a masterpiece. The thick, atmospheric sounds are quite worthwhile on the whole. Passion is an obvious characteristic that the band has and it is brought out nicely on the disc. What the band loses in technical virtuosity, they more than make up for in emotional intensity which is more appropriate to the type of music they’re playing anyways.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Originality: 7.5
Overall: 7.8

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by Carl on April 16, 2020.

There's more in this album than you would expect from just looking at the band's name and album title. It's as nasty as you would expect from a metal band from the Southern American continent, but if you take your time and give this some repeated spins, there are some other details that can be heard in the overall offering, making this a more varied affair than you would think.

The band deliver their attack with energy and conviction. The main influence in their sound is the primitive thrash/death metal from the 80's with the Brazilian thrashers of yore as keystone. In the faster parts there's the undeniable influence of Sarcofago and Sextrash and the vocals remind me of bands as Expulser, early Sepultura or Psychic Possessor. The riffing is straight from the school of Possessed and there's quite some Destruction to be heard as well. The band don't shy away from incorporating some speed metal orientated stuff either, the names of Agent Steel and Whiplash popped up in my mind on occasion. Furthermore, there is a generous helping of Scandinavian black metal in there as well, as evidenced in tracks like 'Sacred Fire' and 'Black Spirits of Revenge'. The guitars here have that same venomous bite that can be found in the early works of Gorgoroth and Immortal, and the band know how to fuse these sounds into their South American framework. For the most part that is, though: unfortunately, a couple of the songs lose some of their power by that same Scandinavian riffing. These tracks just sound too "nice", losing some of the menace that the band generally exudes.

This is a more than decent black/thrash/death metal album with great production, it's just unfortunate that there are a couple of songs on here that lack the power to totally convince. Personally, I would've liked it more if the Scandinavian black metal in their sound had taken more of a backseat in favor of their primitive thrashing influences. It would have packed more of a punch in my opinion. Still, if you're into blackened metal like Nocturnal Graves, Extirpation, Degial and others of the kind, this album will not disappoint.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10