Band:	Sweven
Album:	The Eternal Resonance
Style:	Atmospheric death metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	March 2020

01. The Spark
02. By Virtue Of A Promise
03. Reduced To An Ember
04. The Sole Importance
05. Mycelia
06. Solemn Retreat
07. Visceral Blight
08. Sanctum Sanctorum

When Morbus Chron broke up in 2015, their parting statement left hopes for two new bands emerging. Indeed, five years later we have the heavy / speed / punk outfit Tøronto, and also Robert Andersson's Sweven, named after the second, and final, Morbus Chron offering, which is one of the most important death metal releases of the '10s.

The story goes a bit like this: Sleepers In The Rift was a good death metal record but did not break any new ground in the sense that it more or less mirrored Autopsy and Death. The album Sweven caught listeners off guard as it was an almost complete departure from the debut, with so many different ideas that maybe felt disjointed during the first listens but the more time you spent with it the more its pieces were falling into place. The Eternal Resonance by the band Sweven sounds like the natural follow-up of 2014's album Sweven by Morbus Chron.

This is even less of a strictly death metal album though. The core is a mix between atmospheric death and progressive metal, but you can also hear some doom, metalgaze, black and plenty of post rock. The acoustic parts often have a jazzy aura, accentuated by the rhythm section's performance, something that adds many extra class points to the final product. The vocals are not so frequently heard since the emphasis is on the instrumentals of the album, but they do appear in various forms when the songs need them, mostly as a post-metal or hardcore-ish mix of Chuck Schuldiner and Jeff Becerra - if that makes any sense.

I cannot single out any particular track(s) because I think they are all excellent and they all contribute something equally important to the album as a whole. I could mention a few special parts, such as the shoegazey middle section of "By Virtue Of A Promise" and the complete change of mood that it leads to, the intricate solo of "The Sole Importance", the groovy main riff of "Mycelia" (the most accessible cut of the record), or the last three tracks in their entirety; quite frankly, the album as a whole is almost flawless.

The Eternal Resonance is introspective and so dreamlike that it twists and bends reality, and it surely needs time to fully unfold its sprawling greatness, even though you realize from the very first listen that this is extraordinary stuff. These days most people rush to judge from the first few seconds rather than sit down to discover and experience the music, because everything is about instant gratification and you can hit 'next' any time you want. Sweven's debut is not 'fast food' metal music; it is a gift for the soul of those who have a will to explore its atmospheric and dazzling sonic territories.

This aural work of art comes in waves of rhythms and emotions and it is the product of opposing forces, different textures, and multiple layers so that its resonance stays with you long after it is finished. Raul Gonzalez's beautiful painting on the cover reflects exactly that resonance.

This is album of the year material right here.

"Once chosen, now destined to wither
Bearing the burden of death
In a procession of the blind
Towards the steepest of cliffsides
Chasing the lost and divine
Looming in the distance enshrined"