I have to admit I'm kind of a StS fanboy myself. "Fanboy" as in I always loved every work of them, but I have to be realistic here, and I agree they are somewhat overrated.

This album is getting seriously hard to sink in. I have the feeling that they didn't take too much effort to this, honestly. It lacks atmosphere, and as Troy mentioned before, it seems they're building up to something epic but it never happens. There's also a slight simplicity that is very unusual in their songs.
I don't know, maybe it's a grower, but it's taking its (slow) time to grow on me alright. So I'll just let it spin a few more times before I rate it. For today I'm through with it, and I'm going back to TMNC epicness.

Great album, maybe not as good as New Moon, but i really enjoy listening to this one.

Finally summoned the strength to listen to it and it was ok, a nice listen some nice guitar passages and a couple of great vocal lines and that's it. everything that used to charm me is gone and this is as plastic as a Doom metal album can be (still better than the last Draconian though)

Written by Guest on 27.04.2012 at 15:04

I think that saying this is plastic something isn't that right. It's soft in many ways, it could be harsher, but that's not the synonym for plastic in my books. Plastic is something like Enthroned, which year after year releases that banal bullshit bm, which has absolutely nothing interesting in it, and which never tried to be anything else. And yet they continue... So, Swallow The Sun has increased some contrast in their music (pretty much what Katatonia did too) by putting in some very light gothic pieces and retaining some of the heavier parts. Some of the theme music composed for Twin Peaks seem to have influenced this Swallow The Sun album the most; actually that sort of love/death floating is a very strong element here. I'd change Plastic to Peaceful.

I would also call this plastic, due to the overproduction and the thought out image and such. Plastic as in no feeling to the music as well.

I'd probably change Peaceful to boring
To me Doom has to be either one of two things : Crushing and oppressive as in Winter, Esoteric, MDB's debut .... or Melancholic and heart wrenching as in Saturnus, Officium Triste, Shattered Hope and new MDB
this album is clearly aimed at the melancholic side and it fails miserably to make me feel this way (and this is a completely subjective matter) but objectively speaking, most of the riffs are recycled and there's way too much Katatonia worship as if they went soft (softer actually) just for the sake of it.
I used to love what they do and didn't bother with people (Marcel) calling it uninspired, but this one made me lose all hope

I liked it

Can't get enough of Labyrinth of London. A near perfect song.

Its the best song on the album, for sure.

I've enyojed this album, like past StS albums, is quite good one, but doesn't surprise me so much.

This album isn't horrible, but compared to previous releases it's not up to par- not even close.

Metal Storm's rating system is really flawed :|

Written by The Melting Snow on 25.05.2012 at 21:27
Metal Storm's rating system is really flawed :|

Old complaint is old.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2012 at 22:02

Written by The Melting Snow on 25.05.2012 at 21:27
Metal Storm's rating system is really flawed :|

Old complaint is old.

Hahaha
then why dont the admins do anything about it. noticed how when a new album comes out the rating of other top albums suddenly falls down considerably?

giving your favorite bands a high rating without thought is bearable, but giving other bands a 1 or a 2 just to make them fall down in lists. annoying.

Written by The Melting Snow on 25.05.2012 at 22:15
then why dont the admins do anything about it.

Because this is like the least important feature of the site. If you find a vote abuser, feel free to PM me. But don't expect us to scour the charts to make sure vote abusers are kept under control. We have far more important things to do.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2012 at 22:21

Because this is like the least important feature of the site. If you find a vote abuser, feel free to PM me.

Ooooh, so you are the one who pretty much re-direct him to me yesterday ahahahahhahaa.

I should have given this album much more attention when it came out, this is absolutely spellbinding, and even better than New Moon (which i also love)!

Found the lyrics far too cliched (and you expect that a bit sometimes, but here I found it extremely irritating), and the music was boring. Like has been suggested about it before, it seemed to be building up to something, and it never arrived.

Man, this is really overrated. Doesn't hold a candle to New Moon, let alone their debut. It has some entertainment factor to it, but the thrills most certainly do not last.
A very underwhelming experience.

Written by Guest on 03.07.2012 at 22:25
A very underwhelming experience.

Agreed, unfortunately. I was expecting something more... enveloping. This just felt flat and samey.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 20.04.2012 at 05:39

Written by Nightfall on 19.04.2012 at 23:41
This insipid record still at top.

Fanboys, man. I wonder how much hate someone would get for giving this a negative review...

Oh dear, and I am fixing to write an official review on the album.
Should I change my user-name beforehand? ... nah,...it's not gonna be THAT bad!

Written by D.T. Metal on 26.07.2012 at 20:00
Oh dear, and I am fixing to write an official review on the album.
Should I change my user-name beforehand? ... nah,...it's not gonna be THAT bad!

If you don't score it at least an 8.5 you're going to be exposed to some unnecessary flaming on behalf of those who believe every StS release is a masterpiece.

Not to fear though, I survived handing out a 3/10 in a joke review of the latest Burzum album. You'll be fine.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 27.07.2012 at 04:34
If you don't score it at least an 8.5 you're going to be exposed to some unnecessary flaming on behalf of those who believe every StS release is a masterpiece.

This comment is hilarious because Troy totally called it: The very first comment is from a butthurt fanboy because the review was... 0,3 lower than the tolerance! *GASP*

Written by CobiWan1993 on 23.06.2012 at 09:28

I should have given this album much more attention when it came out, this is absolutely spellbinding, and even better than New Moon (which i also love)!

Better than New Moon? I don't think so.

This album has a few great songs (Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, Cathedral Walls and Labyrinth of London (absolutely the best song on the album)), but a lot of the tracks are a little... underwhelming. Most tracks on New Moon really have a unique feel to them, just like the every track on Hope (which is, in my opinion, their best album). Emerald Forest and the Blackbird has songs like Silent Towers, Of Death and Corruption, and Night Will Forgive Us, which are all songs that didn't have an impact on me at all, even after listening to them 10+ times.

Though all in all, it's still a good album, just no-where near as good as the previous ones.

Written by Erik M. on 06.10.2012 at 15:55

Written by CobiWan1993 on 23.06.2012 at 09:28

I should have given this album much more attention when it came out, this is absolutely spellbinding, and even better than New Moon (which i also love)!

Better than New Moon? I don't think so.

This album has a few great songs (Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, Cathedral Walls and Labyrinth of London (absolutely the best song on the album)), but a lot of the tracks are a little... underwhelming. Most tracks on New Moon really have a unique feel to them, just like the every track on Hope (which is, in my opinion, their best album). Emerald Forest and the Blackbird has songs like Silent Towers, Of Death and Corruption, and Night Will Forgive Us, which are all songs that didn't have an impact on me at all, even after listening to them 10+ times.

Though all in all, it's still a good album, just no-where near as good as the previous ones.

My views on the album have pretty much changed a little bit since making that post. I think it's solid now.

I reviewed it too. I haven't received any hate mail on RYM yet, so I guess I'll have to provoke people here!

Quote:
I don't know what happened to this band. Their debut was my first real foray into doom, and I still think it's a pretty solid melodic death doom record. It's not exactly a classic, but tracks like Through Her Silvery Body are well above average. It's a fine balance of crawling heaviness and memorable melodies, with some nice deep growls and a touch of screams and clean vocals for flavor.

But this isn't a review of The Morning Never Came, is it? Nope, it's about this new album that's supposedly their "most mature" work to date. All I hear is mid-paced melodeath with cheesy choruses and no-balls production. Even the neat funeral growls have been mostly replaced with screeches you'd find in melodeath or bad black metal. It's not heavy in the slightest. On April 14th they try some melodramatic My Dying Bride worship, and it might work if the song actually had a good guitar riff or keyboard motif to keep the recitation bearable. You know, something like Sear Me MCMXCIII (and even that song is pretty gay, but what else do you expect from MDB).

The band isn't all bad, even today. It's somewhat unfair to evaluate them as a doom metal act, because they've never really been one. They do have some nice vocal melodies. At least they've had the sense to capitalize on that, with more clean vocals than before (I think - I haven't paid very close attention to their last few records). Labyrinth of London has a really nice chorus, and it's a pretty neat song overall. Even when they have nice melodies though, the instrumentation is just so lightweight and vanilla that it's impossible to care.

If you want your music heavy, slow and sickly sweet with romance, go listen to Shape of Despair or something. If you think Before the Dawn and Insomnium are the greatest thing to happen to metal and you're depressed about your puberty, you might enjoy this album. I don't.

2/5 or 4/10, which I've described as "Unimpressive."

I forgot that this even existed !

Written by InnerSelf on 21.12.2012 at 15:14

I forgot that this even existed !

that in itself is telling as it is

First song always sends shivers down my spine everytime i listen to it.

Cathedral Walls is kick ass song, other songs are either meh or boring.

You can only really like this album if you like the "doomier" aspects of the band's trademark sound. Was a grower for me in that respect.