Some albums are born from necessity rather than desire.
When a Shadow Is Forced Into the Light is one.
After Swallow the Sun issued their triple-length magnum opus Songs from the North I, II & III in 2015, tragedy struck.
Guitarist/composer Juha Raivio lost his life partner, the poet and vocalist Aleah Stanbridge, to cancer at the end of 2016.
She and Raivio had formed the band Trees of Eternity but she passed before their debut was completed.
He finished and released the album then went into seclusion.
Upon returning, he formed the band Hallatar, composing songs from lyrics in her journals.
They released No Stars Upon the Bridge in 2017.
But Raivio also channeled his grief into this extended reflection on loss, sadness, heartbreak, and transformation for STS; he penned its nine songs in three weeks.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FirelightsJuha Raivio | Swallow the Sun | Play | 05:40 | 13 MB | 36 MB |
| 2 | Upon the WaterJuha Raivio | Swallow the Sun | Play | 06:16 | 14 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | Stone WingsJuha Raivio | Swallow the Sun | Play | 06:55 | 15 MB | 45 MB |
| 4 | Clouds on Your SideMikko Kotamäki, Juha Raivio, Aleah Liane Starbridge | Swallow the Sun | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | Here on the Black EarthJuha Raivio | Swallow the Sun | Play | 05:38 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 6 | Never LeftJuha Raivio | Swallow the Sun | Play | 07:49 | 17 MB | 53 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 244 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jens Bogren | Mixing |
| 2 | David Castillo | Drum Engineering |
| 3 | Clémentine Curie | Spoken Word |
| 4 | Helena Dumell | Viola |
| 5 | Jussi Hämäläinen | Editing Assistant |
| 6 | Matti Honkonen | Bass, Group Member |
| 7 | Mikko Kotamäki | Composer, Group Member, Vocals |
| 8 | Tony Lindgren | Mastering |
| 9 | Teemu Mastovaara | Cello |
| 10 | Jaani Peuhu | Group Member, Keyboards, Producer, String Arrangements, Vocals |
| 11 | Joel Pöllänen | String Arrangements |
| 12 | Juuso Raatikainen | Drums, Group Member |
| 13 | Juho Räihä | Bass Engineer, Group Member, Guitar, Guitar Engineer |
| 14 | Juha Raivio | Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer |
| 15 | Irina Rusu | Violin |
| 16 | Krista Ruusunen | Piano (Grand) |
| 17 | Aleah Liane Starbridge | Composer |
| 18 | Swallow the Sun | Primary Artist |
| 19 | Fursy Teyssier | Artwork |
| 20 | Magdalena Valkeus | Cello |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |