Swallow The Sun

Formed in Jyväskylä in 2000 by Juha Raivio and Pasi Pasanen, the band began with a foundation in doom metal before expanding their sound with elements of death, black, and funeral doom. Their 2003 debut, The Morning Never Came, quickly established them as a major force in the doom-death underground.

Over the years, Swallow the Sun have built a remarkable international career, earning chart success in Finland, two Finnish Grammy nominations, more than 10 million YouTube views and 50 million Spotify streams, while playing over 900 shows across four continents. Albums such as Ghosts of Loss, Hope, New Moon, and Emerald Forest and the Blackbird cemented their reputation, while the ambitious 2015 triple album Songs from the North I, II & III explored three distinct sides of the band: crushing doom-death, intimate acoustic darkness, and extreme funeral doom.

In 2019, Swallow the Sun released When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light, one of the band's most personal and emotionally profound albums. The album explores grief, mourning, and the difficult process of finding a way forward. 

In 2021, they released their eighth studio album, Moonflowers, featuring strings performed by Trio N O X. The album was followed by extensive European, North American, and Latin American touring through 2023.

Now, Swallow the Sun enter a new chapter with Shining, their brightest and most powerful work to date. While retaining the band's characteristic melancholy, majesty, and emotional weight, the album reaches toward something new: a brighter, more expansive sound and a leap into the unknown.

Produced and mixed by two-time Grammy-nominated producer Dan Lancaster, known for his work with Bring Me The Horizon, Muse, Don Broco, Blink-182, and Enter Shikari, Shining marks a creative collaboration unlike anything Swallow the Sun have attempted before. Recorded by Juho Räihä at SoundSpiral Audio, with vocals recorded by Lancaster, mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios, and featuring artwork by Rami Mursula, the album balances crushing darkness with unexpected light.

At its heart, Shining explores the duality of the human experience: the beauty and purity within us, the disillusionment of human connection, and the deep-rooted fear of life that can transform melancholy into something almost divine. It is an album about innocence lost, resilience, and finding light without denying the darkness.

Released as a testament to the band's enduring artistic vision, Shining won the Metal of the Year award at Finland's Emma Gaala in March 2025. Bassist Matti Honkonen has aptly described it as the “Black Album” of death doom, a bold new statement from a band that has spent more than 20 years turning despair into something beautiful.