One of moreinterestingdebuts in the Finnish death/doom scene is SWALLOWED, which surprises with its unusually complex form that combines disharmonic chaos and massive heaviness. Right from the beginning of the 2 minute intro“Opening of the Key,” this stuff emanates with malicious aura. One can smell something dead, and this dead stuff is possessively morbid. “Reverence through darkness”is simply a march of exhausted souls, this grim heaviness is getting heavier and heavier; the chaos, full of Hell, as it is,blends with darkness of guitar madness.

“Arterial Mists of Doom” is somewhat similar, I think. Thetrack “Lunarterial” emanates with corpse-like atmosphere which rules supreme. Thoughthese tracks seem kind of ascetic, there is a lot going on here. “Black aura” is a slow and very dark track – it pictures some wretched souls which, full of pain and despair, have not come to terms with their death. “Black Phlegm” is a damn morbid dose of music, too. It all ends with a 25 minute long funeral doom track – “Libations.”This reeks of rot, this emanates with psychedelic demonization and this specific unreal aura, as if it was coming from another dimension. Thisalbum is a strange journey throughoutthe land of eternal death. You can feel the coldness, mustiness and the reek of rotting; you can sense this unreal dark atmosphere and marvelous ghost-like climate. Very recommended!

LWS