Swedish post-metal duo A Swarm of the Sun have announced the release of their much-anticipated 4th studio album, ‘An Empire’, on September 6th via Berlin’s Pelagic Records.
Returning from time apart to a world forever changed, ‘An Empire’ sees Erik Nilsson and Jakob Berglund of A Swarm of the Sun continue the compositional narrative thread seen on their breathtaking 2019 album ‘The Woods’; imbued with a brooding sense of melancholy that allows the band to dig ever deeper into ideas of desolation and despair whilst a newfound lyrical focus adds a tenderness that is as heartwarming as it is harrowing.
With the early bones of ‘An Empire’ tabled by events beyond their control in 2019, Erik and Jakob came together years later and scrapped them in favour of creating something entirely new; something distinctly different to break the cycle, defy categorisation and reflect the uncomfortable uncertainties of the times we now live in. The result is astounding, a six-track tale told in four distinct movements that are nothing short of devastating, as the band’s unique sonic palette flows from plaintive piano ballads to raw, full-band fury, whilst crucially leaving latent space for Jakob’s voice to shine.
Taken from the album’s third side, lead single ‘The Burning Wall’ embodies this sprawling compositional feat perfectly, with the painfully frank opening couplet of “I know I fail you / I know that I run” establishing a gripping narrative trajectory backed by a simmering, impatient pulse that inevitably rises to an all-consuming crescendo of cymbal chaos and wall-of-sound discord.
Written, composed and arranged without compromise for the sake of convenience or familiarity, A Swarm of the Sun have delicately balanced ‘An Empire’ between the familiar and entirely alien in a significant evolution of their already indelible post-metal sound. With increasingly bleak times forcing the band to reassess their relationship with creativity and suffering, this new body of work captures all the anthemic, intimate highs and crushing, debilitating lows of modern life on a knife edge.
‘An Empire’ is released on 6th September
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