MUSIC REVIEW: Crimson Sun - “Sorrowbreaker”
It’s an exciting month for new music for a few reasons right now, one of which is that Crimson Sun have their third album coming out at long last: “Sorrowbreaker” will be released independently on September 20th, 2024. These guys did something special with their first two albums, “Towards the Light” (2015) and “Fates” (2020), with both being quite well-received, enough to stay on everyone’s radars over the past decade. Since it took 5 years between their first albums because so much life happened in between, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this one took another 4 years, what with a pandemic and all. They’re a band I always look forward to hearing from, so for a change, I was actually rather enthusiastic when this new release was announced.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Gathering of Geeks, featuring Crimson Sun’s Miikka Hujanen!
In case you’re new here, I often like to use this first paragraph to give a general personal history on the artist, so if you’d like to compare your favorites to mine to see how comparable our tastes are, this next paragraph is for you! After all, music is subjective! So, with that in mind, feel free to skip down to the next paragraph if you’re not interested in my personal history with Crimson Sun.
When I moved to Finland, Crimson Sun was one of those bands that the underground metal snobs always gushed about, saying that they were one of Finland’s finest gems. I’ve always enjoyed returning to “Towards the Light,” so once they had come to my attention (I’m not exactly sure how or when exactly), it coincided with the era when I was starting to do interviews. As such, I asked them for one at Tuska Festival 2016, which was probably the first time I saw them live as well. Ever since then, I’ve kept an eye on them and had a full-band interview again when “Fates” came out, which was another really solid release, with “Fate of Nora” being perhaps my favorite track after multiple listens, though it changed many times before settling on that one. Crimson Sun is also on Enslain’s roster, for reasons that are obvious if you know them. So, I’ve always kept an eye on them and taken opportunities to see them play whenever I could, and they’ve always been a reliably good time.
“Sorrowbreaker” feels like it steers into a more modern direction, though there’s somehow a hint of nostalgia worked into the mix as well—don’t ask me how they pulled that off, but they did. You can see it in the visuals for “Neon Lights” particularly, where the neon feels very ‘80s, but with a cyberpunk flare that feels very relevant right now. There’s something in the way that you can tell their influences have a wide spread, to classic bands in various genres, to many different types of metal. Everything sounds fresh, new, well-produced, tastefully electronica- and pop-influenced, and exploratory.
The album gets heated up right away with a bangin’ single, “The Mark Stays On,” which sets a really solid ground for the album to build upon. Perhaps the best thing about “Sorrowbreaker” is that it feels like a vast collection of awesome, catchy choruses. Literally every song has a nice vibe wrapped around a sick chorus, so each song feels powerful and fun, making for a likely great live set during their album release show on October 2nd. It’s hard for me to even pick favorite choruses, but “Sailing Home,” “Nightsky,” and “Aluminum Crown” are great examples… but then again, so is pretty much everything else.
Then, my other favorite thing about this album is the balanced use of instruments. The keyboard/synth sound from Miikka Hujanen regularly stands out, while the guitars from Joni Junnila and drums from Antti Rantavuo are rock solid, meaning that despite any sort of pop influence you find in the tracks, the songs don’t feel overly mainstream, cliché, boring, or generic—this is still metal, after all. Even the electronic sound is used very tastefully, and oftentimes it can be overdone or spastic, or it just sounds like pop music, forgetting the metal altogether. The band is really finding a nice balance as they toy with different sounds; the only thing I would recommend (which is something that I recommend to basically everyone, all the time, to be fair) is to make sure the bass player (in this case, Jukka Jauhiainen) stands out some more. I often can’t pick out the bass in the sound, which is fine, it means the rhythm section is seamlessly blended, but I do love when the bass is used for more than just keeping a beat. That’s just my own personal nit-pick though; on the whole, the album’s sound is impeccable and the use of dynamics is very solid. And I’ll bet that bass sound is more noteworthy live, too.
The other main thing that caught my attention and interest on this album was how interesting Sini Seppälä’s vocals are. In “The Mark Stays On,” there’s an interesting effect on her voice and her backing vocals almost sound like a totally different singer. Then, she changes to such a different sound in “Strive” that I almost thought the song had a guest singer. Songs like “Neon Lights” and and “The Tide” have her more familiar vocals, which of course have always been really nice as well, so there’s no complaint there. But it’s great to see her experimenting with her sound and doing a bang-up job of it! One more thing? The use of effects on her voice is really stylishly done, without making it sound like she’s auto-tuned or anything like that.
Other stand-out moments? Well, “Sailing Home” has been a highlight track since it was released as a single, for sure. It’s just such a tight package from start-to-finish. then, I love the sort of… I want to call it ‘tainted’ sound in the beginning of “Strive,” while “Retrospectator” needs applause for its clever wordplay and intriguing lyrics, as well as the interesting C-part. “Neon Lights” makes me think of something Roxette might have written if they were more heavy metal, and Roxette rules, to be clear. There’s a bit of that ‘80s vibe, but with a very modern flavor. This is also one of rare occasions where disco drums actually suit the song’s mood and don’t feel like a lazy cop-out. And, last but absolutely not least, is the final track “Sylvan,” which works as an emotional closer that wraps up the release nicely. There’s a lot of good stuff on offer here!
Perhaps the biggest compliment that I can give Crimson Sun at the moment is that I still genuinely really like them and enjoyed myself while listening to this release. Considering how burnt out I am on heavy metal right now (especially, sadly, with bands who have female vocalists), I have very little interest in listening to any album unless it’s really good or at very least really interesting, and “Sorrowbreaker” manages to be a bit of both. The overall sound blends melodic metal with a hint of pop metal in a very tasteful way (frankly, I think Amaranthe could learn a bit from Crimson Sun on that front), while vocalist Sini Seppälä really puts herself to work in new and innovative ways. Everything’s really catchy without being obnoxiously mainstream sounding, and those choruses, as I mentioned, are so solid across the whole album. They’ve also explored different sounds that work well and seem like they’re trying out new things, which is always fresh. Perhaps it means that the band hasn’t quite found their niche yet, but I, for one, am glad to see they’re still searching, because I like where things are going. Ultimately, if you’ve enjoyed the singles so far, you’re surely going to love the album!
Tracklist
The Mark Stays On
Strive
Retrospectator
Sailing Home
Nightsky
Sorrowbreaker
Aluminum Crown
Neon Lights
The Tide
Sylvian
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