A Swarm Of The Sun (se)

To say that A Swarm of the Sun’s soniscapes are swarming with soaring majestic climaxes is -other than a poor pun- a glaring understatement. These Swedes’ sound is so massively loud yet so incredibly delicate to the point of impossibility. Their intricate compositions often spans 10+ minutes, engulfing and transporting the listener through suffocatingly bleak and soul-lifting moments. Mastering the art of the “slow burner” , A Swarm Of The Sun move through these monumental soundscapes with unparalleled elegance and grace, building up tension before exploding into thunderous and defeating climaxes. These emotional tours-de-force are beautifully enthralling and frankly, devastating. Their latest record “An Empire” is the musical equivalent to a ruler’s proclamation. It is noble and royal, majestic and commanding as a post-rock statement. On it, A Swarm Of The Sun have raised the bar once more and rightfully elected themselves as heralds of post-rock to come.

This latest record made ample use the band's soaring instrumentation but alternated it with more stripped-back intimate moments, resounding all the louder because of it. Here, piano and vocals confer the album a confessional character and a foretelling quality. Spelling, and scoring impending disaster, An Empire put the darkest and bleakest end of spectrum of human emotions to music, providing a chilling soundtrack for these uncertain times, but not without providing a silver lining as well. In a synergy of sounds that varied from the most ecstatically bombastic to the most excruciatingly melancholic, A Swarm Of The Sun composed a furious ode to human resilience delivering blow after blow of cathartic and emotionally-charged post-rock, for a sonic experience that is emotionally draining and almost physically painful to get through, but all the more rewarding because of it.

Bandcamp • Facebook • Instagram