Luxi: After punishing us by a severe megaton-breath of Rotten Sound, it was time to head our ways to see Swallow the Sun who have been gaining some ground for themselves with their two extremely well-doing albums, THE MORNING NEVER CAME (2003) and GHOSTS OF LOSS (2005). Expected to enter some calmer soundscapes as far as these deathly doomsters music is concerned, but how wrong I was. Even if Swallow the Sun plays on a totally different playground musically compared to Rotten Sound (thank dog – er... God or whatever Satan, I meant!), the band´s morbid intensity is based on their very depressive yet crushingly heavy sound, and the band was able to deliver the exact same elements live, added with a surprising amount of headbanging which ain´t that typical for a Doom Metal band these days, I guess. In fact, I found Swallow the Sun´s live appearance somewhat killer; especially every time when all the 6 members of the band started an eye-catching headbanging exactly at the same second. Who says a Doom Metal band is tedious and boring to watch live? At least not me from now on...

Niko: Another band which was surprisingly great with their live appearance show! I listened to their latest album pretty carefully before the festival and have to say I was eager to see how the band could manage to perform with their new songs when playing live. Ok lads – Swallow the Sun kicked off with the first track from the GHOSTS OF LOSS album, “Giant”, which was a brilliant song. It was a perfect start for the eerie atmosphere which prevailed through the entire set. S.t.S.´s sound got something to do with good ol´ Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but there’s certainly more aggressive vibes in their sound. In my opinion, S.t.S´s performance was more balanced at the club environment than it could have been at an outdoor festival like S.O.A. just like Rotten Sound proved earlier. Their sound is different and demands more from the audience as well as from the circumstances where S.t.S.´s gig is going to be held.

Metal-Rules