Kreator & Swallow the Sun bring soft/heavy dynamic to the Masq

Mille Petrozza, frontman of thrash metal outfit Kreator, will accept nothing less than the best moshing from his crowds.

"This is the part of the show where we ask everyone to form the biggest mosh pit possible."

It took some serious convincing on Mille Petrozza's part. The Kreator frontman looked over the sparsely populated floor of Atlanta's Masquerade and did his best to energize them. Attendance can be notoriously bad on Wednesday nights, but this is Kreator. They were one of the quintessential thrash metal bands of the 1980s, and built a huge name establishing speed metal legacy. Though there weren't many, the small throng that turned out to see them were full of fight.

Lights and fog machines were a big part of their set, but the German quartet still showed excellence in delivering intensity and bringing the best out of a crowd. Petrozza is a perfect example of a vintage 80s thrash frontman; his maniacal shrieks and yells made you feel like you were in a dingy L.A. metal club sometime around 1984. Eventually a sporadic pit formed. The moshers must have not been in good shape; they'd start raging for awhile then totally taper off, only to begin again later.

They were aided by Kreator old and new. Setlist staple "Extreme Aggression" is a buzzsaw packed full of sweat soaked adrenaline and rancor, which includes a verse riff that ranks up there with anything the Big Four ever put out. "Hordes of Chaos," a relatively newer number, got fans shrieking along with its "everybody against everybody" closing refrain and its hard edged slashing nature.

Petrozza is still vocally impressive. Most modern death metal growlers sound like copies of one another, but Petrozza's high pitched raspy shriek is all his own. He also took time to poke fun at Accept for skipping out on the show. Their fellow 80s metal titans were originally scheduled to headline, but dropped out for undisclosed reasons. Kreator still got to play to a diverse crowd. There were several metal chicks clad in leather, but there was also one massive afro dude with a glowstick who knocked nearly everyone else out of the way on his charge to get to the front.

Not to be overlooked were Finnish doom metallers Swallow the Sun, fresh off the release of their fifth LP, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird. Their set opened with the 10 minute title cut from that album, although it seemed to go by in half the time. This was my third time seeing them, and they keep getting more intricate. They're not a flashy band; you gotta pay attention to reap the full rewards of what they're sowing. But the beautiful lead melody of "Cathedral Walls" or the visceral, Bodom-like assualt of "Hate, Lead the Way!" are rich elements that anyone could pick up on.

Even now it's still easy to see lead guitarist/head honcho Juha Raivio onstage as he effortlessly conjures his flowing leads and melodies. Keyboardist Aleksi Munter is looking pissed off, while vocalist Mikko Kotamaki is in his trademark position, hunched over with head downturned, gripping his microphone stand while the band devours the earth before them in a ravishing vortex.

Swallow the Sun guitarist Juha Raivio injects subtle melodies and wining leads into his band's sound.

Swallow the Sun weaves vibrant textures through the Emerald Forest

Mikko Kotamäki once told me the trick to pulling off a harsh vocal style is to make sure you're not pushing out too much.

I wonder how he manages to avoid that, then. When he unleashes his trademark guttural roar, it hits with the force of 10 men. It's the type of growl that echoes off the walls and rings all the way to the deepest recesses of a concert hall. And it's an asset that serves him well on Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, the fifth album from the renowned Finnish doom metal outfit.

Swallow the Sun has entranced its listeners by summoning forth layers upon layers of agony, and burying its fans under the crushing force of Juha Raivio's guitar riffs. But do not think they are all slam and bang. One of the Blackbird's key strengths lies in its ability contrast softer passages with ones much more sinister and heavy.  Check the very first track or a pitch-perfect example of this.

The title track opens the album with some slow, doomy chord progressions accented by enchanting keyboard melodies. The stage is set for Kotamäki's thickly accented speaking voice, which informs us he is going to be reciting a story of some sort:

"Sleep my child, lay down your head and leave this pain,
I'll read you these last pages of the tale"

Kotamäki continues in his eerie lower register, with accompaniment by a ghostly female aria. Meanwhile, the guitar falls silent to give us a chance to soak this all in.

It's precisely at that moment that get blindsided by an intense blast of death/doom metal guitar work, while Kotamäki's vocals are so bleak and oppressive they could literally swallow the light of the sun and devour it whole. His story focuses on two lovers who become eternally separated from one another under the green glow of an emerald forest. The climax delivers the prolific bombast of 90s style black metal riffage, complete with blasting double bass and a sense that you've lost a part of yourself you'll never get back.

With Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, Swallow the Sun once again demonstrate they know how to play with our emotions. As always, there is heavy helping of gothic elements. There are themes anger, despair, lovers being separated, and the like. There are whispers of hardened hearts who bear no forgiveness. And the lyrics are filled with eloquent nature references - being trapped in a dark forest, haunted by the ghosts of winter, and bathed in the summer rain. All pretty much par for the course in doom metal.

And yet one of the key elements that make Swallow the Sun unique is the way Raivio's winding guitar leads play off of and complement Kotamäki's voice.

The closer, "Night Will Forgive Us," is a prime example. Some of Juha's best leads are heard here, while Kotamäki spells out one of the darkest messages on the album - that our wounds never truly heal, and stay with us in some shape or form all through life.

The band also does a great job of presenting a sense of variety. "Hate, Lead the Way!" sounds like the name of a Children of Bodom song, and perhaps it's no coincidence that the shrill, raspy vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Alexi Liaho. This is one of the few tracks on the album that stays aggressive throughout, while still keeping true to the sonic nature of the rest of the album.

Then you have "This Cut is the Deepest," which features all clean vocals. It's a very lush, atmospheric track with a catchy chorus. Mikko's spoken word rasp is accented perfectly by Juha's guitar and the clashing of Kai Hahto's cymbals.

Without a doubt, one of my favorite tracks on the album is "Labyrinth of London," a no holds barred song telling the story of Jack the Ripper stalking the streets of London. The spitfire riffing truly breathes life into the dark and gritty nature of the subject matter.  Midway through, there is a spoken word sample of London by William Blake, which gives it a "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" type feel. We are then treated to one of Juha's most majestic and powerful solos, while bells toll in the background.

I wish we got to hear them sound like this more often.

"Cathedral Walls," another of the album's highlights, features guest vocals from Anette Olzon of Nightwish. The piece opens with a sweet, winding, Opethy guitar lead. Kotamäki begins with some heartfelt vocals, and there is some subdued piano which leads into Olzon's wispy chorus. All parties involved do an admirable job, although the transition from the heavy passage back into Olzon's final stanza is rather abrupt.

At this point in their career, you basically know what you're getting with a Swallow the Sun record. That said, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird is another solid entry into their catalog, and perhaps even slightly mellower than some of their previous work. The Opeth, Katatonia, and My Dying Bride similarities continue to shine through, though perhaps if you appreciate bands like Agalloch and Dissection for their attention to nature you may well appreciate this also. Personally, I find they begin to drone on after a while, although there are several choice cuts to be found here. At any rate, its' a record that will provide you with plenty of new details to discover each time you load it up.


Score: 83/100