Review by SilentScream213 for Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came (2003)

Melodic Death Doom, perfected. The Morning Never Came is the debut album of the Finnish lords of gloom, beauty and despair. While I adore all of Swallow the Sun’s albums, I must confess that their debut is my favorite of all. The band simply crafted the absolute peak of the genre on their first try.

The Morning Never Came is, like most Doom, dark, very melancholic, atmospheric, and somber. But it’s also passionate, lush, melodic, equal parts beautiful and crushing. Undercurrents of depressive hopelessness and apocalypse are lit up by moonbeams of longing and twinkling starlight of love from long ago. Riffs and leads on this album are phenomenal; every single song has multiple that could go down as some of the most iconic of the genre. The bass is amazing, smooth and melodic, which is rare for Doom; the mix does it wonders so you can hear the attention to composition in the basswork. Similarly, the drumming is nice and active, intelligent, swapping between funereal and punchy to serve the songs. The keys are that extra layer that bring this from S tier to SS tier; so beautifully lush, simple but very, very memorable, backing the chords and leads in a way that solidifies each song as extremely memorable. They never compete with the guitar leads, instead adding another layer of backing chords that also avoid competing with rhythm guitar by sticking to higher registers. Just genius compositional work. Last but certainly not least, fantastic vocals that can range from death growls to black shrieks, even some cleans here and there, and morose yet captivating lyricism.

The Morning Never Came is not only one of my favorite albums ever, but one of the most consistent and flawless. There isn’t a single thing about this album I could point out that I don’t love. Even the production and mixing are perfect. The reverb is wonderfully atmospheric but doesn’t sacrifice detail. The layering is just enough to make the album sound lush, but perfectly restrained to ensure every instrument is audible and serving a specific purpose. The craftsmanship here, on all levels, is masterful.

The thing about albums like this is, beyond all the technical aspects, the compositional aspects, the musicianship, the production, it still has one more thing going for it: the emotional value. These songs are deeply affecting, on every front. The melodies are heart-wrenching, the vocals are powerful, the keys provide that plastic synthetic beauty that contrasts so well with the crushing devastation of the rhythm section. The mood here is so damn gloomy. The gloomiest album I’ve ever heard. Every song sounds like finding that which is most important to you broken and buried in the snow. Some songs instill the wrath that follows, and others the grief, but there’s always loss, there’s always melancholy, and there’s always cold, bitter snow, with no sign of the morning in sight.