''When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light'' is the seventh studio album by Finnish doom metal band Swallow the Sun. It was released on January 25, 2019, by

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. The album deals directly with the death of Juha Raivio's partner, the singer

Aleah Stanbridge Aleah Liane Stanbridge (born Julia Liane Stanbridge; 1 July 1976 – 18 April 2016), better known mononymously as Aleah, or Aleah Starbridge, was a South African singer-songwriter based in Örebro, Sweden where she lived until her death. In 200 ...

. It is their shortest studio album release to date, and also the first to have a much more prominent emphasis on clean vocals.

Background and composition

In an interview with Decibel, speaking on how Stanbridge's death influenced the music for ''When a Shadow is Forced into the Light'', Juha Raivio said: "Every word and note I wrote, I wrote for Aleah on this album and about my own battle .. This album name comes from the words of Aleah, 'When a shadow is forced into the light', and that was exactly what I needed to do. To push myself out from the shadows, as I had been pretty much a hermit in the woods for two and a half years, I had to push this album out." The album has been noted for showcasing a more melodic and atmospheric sound, as well as a bigger emphasis on Mikko Kotamäki's clean vocals.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described the album's style as primarily

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way si ...

, with gothic rock,

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...

and doom metal influences.

Critical reception

''When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light'' received critical acclaim.

gave the album a positive review, saying that the album's songs are "more melodic than anything" in the band's catalog. They added that "''When a Shadow is Forced into the Light'' is an album one cannot fully appreciate in one listen", and concluded that "its many degrees of melancholy and sadness are not expressed for their own sake, but as the underside of the ravaged beauty that can only emerge in the wake of unspeakable loss and evolve as transcendence".

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

awarded the album four and a half out of five stars, noting the emotional weight and the "many layers of musical sorrow" in the album's sound. They praised Juha Raivio's guitar playing in particular, and asserted that "the rawness and realness of the pain behind this album leaves their previous work sounding breezily untroubled in comparison".

Track listing

Personnel

* Mikko Kotamäki – lead vocals * Juho Räihä – rhythm guitar * Juha Raivio –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Jaani Peuhu Jaani Peuhu (born 17 August 1978) is a Finnish musician, producer and songwriter. He is the founder and lead vocalist of the Finnish band Iconcrash and currently working with his debut solo album. He currently resides in Helsinki. Background ...

–

, vocal * Matti Honkonen –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Juuso Raatikainen – drums

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Century Media Records albums Swallow the Sun albums