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The first album by these Finns was a huge success everywhere. I remember sort of a slight disappointment after I bought it. Not bad, sure, it was just a certain lack of a blaze, of spirit... Rather a good album than a groundbreaking one, in my humble opinion. Weird as I am, don´t take my views too strictly. The sophomore “Ghosts Of Loss” was the trial by fire to see whether these blokes confirmed the expectations pointed out in the debut album. The result: it´s somehow similar, when it comes to the effect caused in me. Do you know that feeling when the music is ok, when everything is right, but it´s not capable of achieving a connection with your mind? Well, the same thing happens with this album. The sound is perfect, the songs are professionally arranged, the songmaking is correct. It´s impossible to say negative things about it. It´s just that it doesn´t move me at all, I simply listen to the songs, they sound in the stereo, and that´s all. The clinical feeling of the music leaves me cold. Maybe it´s due to the deja-vu vibes, the Opeth-esque ambiences this band weaves; yes, I´ve heard that before... the length of the album and songs also help to that. Surely if you´re a die hard Opeth fan you´ll inmediately enjoy these songs, since a lot of moments it´s like Mikael Åkerfeldt´s band plus synths (but not quite similar to their “Ghost Reveries” (hmmmm, strangely enough there is the “ghost” word in both albums...). Add the artwork of the album as another influence from the prog Swedish gods, too... Of course some things are different, Swallow The Sun use another kind of clean vocals and guitar melodies, for example. However, the whole vibe can´t escape the comparison with Opeth. Despite my tastes don´t follow much the path chosen by these guys, I must admit the quality of this release and show them my respect towards their hard work.
| Tracklist |
| 1. The Giant |
| 2. Descending Winters |
| 3. Psychopath´s Lair |
| 4. Forgive Her... |
| 5. Fragile |
| 6. Ghost Of Laura Palmer |
| 7. Gloom, Beauty And Despair |
| 8. The Ship |
: 66.01
| Buy other Swallow The Sun albums |
