A View From The Back Of The Room: Swallow The Sun (Alice Doyle)

Swallow The Sun, Saturnus & Opia, Thekla Bristol, 17.12.25

Your friendly neighbourhood metal minion here with my unprofessional views of musical events.

The first band of the evening was to be Opia one I was not at all familiar with prior to the day, and to my misfortune would not fully be familiar with on the day either, as I was informed that due to unforeseen circumstances, the bassist couldn't make this date and that prior to this gig their drummer had left the band. 

I believe the vocalist Tereza with her serene and powerful voice would not necessarily need a band to back her up,  but with Dan, Phoenix and Jorge they did manage to do an admirable job. However in order to provide a fair review of the band as a whole, I decided to abstain from scoring on this occasion.

I quickly exchanged some words with some of the bands members afterwards, as well as with some of their fans, and was convinced that they were worth following and subsequently waiting for! 

I was on the upper deck when Saturnus (9) started their set, awoken by a kind of rumble from below that beckoned me downstairs. 

These guys have been around before I was out of preschool, and their lo and behold -reputation is a testament to that career, although I had not personally been familiar with them prior to the tour announcement. 

I did however in short time grow very fond of them whilst unravelling their entire discography from start to finish. To my pleasant surprise the setlist also showcased tracks throughout their career, many of which I instantly recognised. 

Between the melancholic doom-driven tracks they took the time to address and engage the audience with funny quips and I got a distinct impression they are a serious band that doesn’t take itself too seriously. (This further reinforced by a cute little fist-bump they shared on stage!). 

The vocalist, Thomas, also goes to show you don’t need a long hair for moshing - you just need a hell of a beard. The show was powerful, moving and the chemistry between the members was tangible. I would absolutely see Saturnus again. 

Before I get into my potentially biased musings, I’d like to start by mentioning that despite following the career of these guys since early 2009, this was in fact my first time catching them live.

I’m always impressed when a musician -or a music group manages to bring that studio quality of their sound onto the stage, and Swallow The Sun (9) manages to deliver that, whilst still dishing out the raw ‘in the moment’ -emotion that makes each performance unique.

The set begins with an ethereal intro leading us into the first single of their latest album Innocence Was Long Forgotten (well actually, we begun with a backtrack of Velvet Chains, which gave me goosebumps as the band took to the stage). 

I had been perhaps a tad on the cautious side with getting my hopes up, after seeing some of the material from the beginning of the tour (all the while bearing in mind the tour started nearly a year ago), where the vocalist had been slated for his clean vocals not being up to par. 

But I personally thought Mikko’s ability to shift between clean vocals and agonising growls was smooth, and shows both commitment and improvement. 

Juuso in turn has received much praise around the world for his skills with the drumset, which of course are easily heard on the recordings - however to witness that real uncut talent, and what seems to be legitimate passion he displays during a live show was simply incredible. 

Meanwhile the bass perfectly complimented the two very different guitarists - all three displaying remarkable control of their individual string-play; thick, dark and menacing (that is what she said) and as we slowly transitioned into a few of the older songs from 2009 my personal high was ensured.

After the nostalgia hype we were back on track with the album tour to Shining, with a couple more songs from the new release, and I find myself thinking about these transitions between the albums and how seamless it was. 

Despite all the grumbling in the metal communities about their recent change in style, as we traverse through albums of old and new the unmistakable STS sound remains. 

Hey maybe it’s the sound of “pussy doom” as the critics titled it, but I believe by simply bending the whole genre rather than bending into the genre, they have created a tone that makes them stand out.

The band ends their set with Swallow (Horror PT.1) - another track from their oldest album, thus reminding us that; though their innocence may be - their roots are far from forgotten.

TDLR; What a fucking show - absolutely amazing.

Prior to the gig I actually had the pleasure of spending some time with two of the members of the band; Mikko (vocals) and Juuso (drums), and although I wanted the chat to remain casual and not influence my overall review of the event, it may have influenced my perspective - or at the least made me more aware of their individual performances during the show. 

Both of the guys were very down to earth and chill, and welcomed my occasionally intrusive Finglish* ramblings with patience, which made for a very fond memory I will be forever thankful for.

*Finnish is my native language, but after living in the UK for nearly half of my adult life I have forgotten many of the words and wind up mixing them up with English - hence, Finglish!