With compilations notwithstanding, you don’t really see triple albums coming out very often. If there ever was a golden era for three-disc releases, it was perhaps the 1970s, and if I’m being totally honest, only the triple affairs by Frank Zappa and RUSH were something of great value. More recently, Tom Waits released his haunting triple album, “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards,” in 2006, which was something like a “B-Sides and Rarities” type of thing, but, in general, things have been rather bleak in the three-disc department. In 2015, however, we were given two such endeavors, and I’m not going to dig into IRON MAIDEN‘s “Book of Souls,” here, simply because the other monolith, released on November 13th, 2025, via Century Media, warped the very fabric of reality with such force that it still ranks as the absolute peak in the band’s discography for me. The band in question was the Finnish metal brigade of death/doom melancholy, SWALLOW THE SUN, and the album was entitled “Songs From the North I, II & III.” Each of these three discs portrays a different facet of the band’s music; hence, the discs are subtitled “Gloom,” “Beauty,” and “Despair,” respectively. Although the utterly slow-crushing sadness of “Heartstrings Shattering” is placed on the first disc, which emphasizes the band’s death/doom leanings, it was disc two that tugged at my heartstrings most forcefully at the time of the album’s release. The band had surely flirted with atmospheric, almost Neo-folk-like tranquility before, but the seamless flow of these eight songs on the second disc was something of pure, heartbroken genius.
So, the first disc showcases the band’s traditional sound; the brilliant opener, “With You Came the Whole of the World’s Tears,” along with the aforementioned “Heartstrings Shattering” and “10 Silver Bullets,” are the best songs of the bunch, hands down. For the garden variety fans, these first eight songs probably provide the best bang for the buck, as the selection could easily stand on its own as an official SWALLOW THE SUN release. In my opinion, it might not suffice, actually, since the previous 2012 album, “Emerald Forest and the Blackbird,” was so damn gorgeous. Had the band opted for releasing these first eight songs as a full-length, it would have felt like a let-down. I mean, as good as these songs are, overall, only those songs mentioned above really feel as though the band were taking things further from the previous affair. So, with the addition of two more discs, things are really taking off on a proper tangent.
Some online critics viewed the second disc to be the weakest link in this triple at the time of its release. I’m not entirely sure what their issue might have been, apart from the fact that maybe they played too much Candy Crush while trying to listen to the songs, or something. Even some of the established Finnish music press couldn’t see much value in this atmospheric selection. Well, screw you, too. Granted, on their later albums to come, SWALLOW THE SUN would embrace their atmospheric side even more gracefully with a few specific songs. Still, the heart-wrenching melancholy in songs such as “Songs From the North,” or the closer, “Before the Summer Dies,” are easily among the best songs the band has ever written. Plus, in the latter, the band’s primus motor, Juha Raivio, seemed to confess his love for the schlager-tinted melancholy of the legendary Finnish band, THE AGENTS, in nothing short of a haunting manner. Then, maybe I’m just a boring old cunt, but I find the mellow, subtly post-rock-esque instrumental, “66,50’N, 28,40’E” very appealing, too. The coordinates in the song’s title seem to point to a traffic circle in Salla, Lapland. Rumor has it that it is a place where Raivio was chased in a nightmare, but I couldn’t tell if it’s true or not. Last, “Pray For the Winds to Come” could be the best acoustic ballad KATATONIA never wrote. While it may be way too early to contemplate such things, I’ll say this anyway: I would very much prefer that the songs from this second disc were played at my funeral, rather than some bleak church-organ music. Fuck that, if you want tear-jerker music, pick up this album.
The third disc is a predominantly doom-laden affair altogether. As rewarding as the final selection is in and of itself, it surely works best in tandem with the first two discs – it is like a slow, unforgiving fall from grace after flying too close to the sun with the ethereal songs from disc two. “Despair” is a very befitting subtitle for the last selection; the mood in these five slow-crushing monoliths is very dark, and the song tempos grind down to an almost funeral-doom pace, here and there. Earlier this year, SWALLOW THE SUN played this third disc from start to finish as part of their 25th anniversary concert in Helsinki. Too bad, I couldn’t make it; I’m sure those who were at the venue witnessed something unforgettable. If I were to single out one song from the last selection, “Gathering of Black Moths,” would be my go-to song from the last disc – all the darkest, heaviest, and most soul-crushing elements of SWALLOW THE SUN are nicely condensed within a single song.
Long story short, “Songs From the North I, II & III” is a downright masterpiece – dark and depressing at times, just like it’s supposed to be, and, by turns, heavy and atmospheric. In this day and age, when even double albums are sometimes a little bit too much to take, I’m not sure what dark sorcery the band must have resorted to in order to get the green light from their label for releasing a gargantuan offering like this. I’m sure glad they succeeded in doing so. While I simply adore the band’s later albums, too, there’s no way a single album could ever compete against the massive onslaught of death/doom greatness unfolding on this three-disc affair – the odds are three-to-one, in reverse.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Pt. I: Gloom – Tracklist
- With You Came the Whole of the World’s Tears
- 10 Silver Bullets
- Rooms and Shadows
- Heartstrings Shattering
- Silhouettes
- The Memory of Light
- Lost & Catatonic
- From Happiness to Dust
Pt. II: Beauty – Tracklist
- The Womb of Winter
- The Heart of a Cold White Land
- Away
- Pray For the Winds to Come
- Songs From the North
- 66,50’N, 28,40’E
- Autumn Fire
- Before the Summer Dies
Pt. III: Despair – Tracklist
- Gathering of Black Moths
- 7 Hours Late
- Empires of Loneliness
- Abandoned By the Light
- The Clouds Prepare For Battle
Lineup
Mikko Kotamäki – vocals
Juha Raivio – guitars
Markus Jämsen – guitars
Aleksi Munter – keyboards
Matti Honkonen – bass
Juuso Raatikainen – drums
Label
Century Media
