An Empire, by A Swarm of the Sun

An Empire

by A Swarm of the Sun

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Thony Ekström So damn good album! Am I the only one that thinks An Empire, kinda sounds like the guys has been to Iceland and listen to Sòlstáfir, watching the nature and then just got so inspired to do this tune? Or it could be the organ sound though! Anyway, the postmetal/and atmospheric sound is awesome!! ❤️ Favorite track: The Pyre.

sequined•tears Devastating Hope is not easy to achieve, but this release does it for me. when music can move me to stop, dive deeper and completely surrender to it, I'm all in. There are so many great moments throughout Empire, my favorite release this year by far.

Fikeyus Haunting, beautiful, massive, and devastating...my favorite music so far this year.

Darknight This is a stunning monstrous record of post metal magic which evokes pure beauty inside every harrowing melody and at the same time an atmospheric sound is created. An Empire is the soundtrack to the human failure which is inside all of us, enjoy this dreaded beast🤘 Favorite track: The Pyre.

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1.	This Will End In Fire 07:25	buy track
2.	Heathen 12:12	buy track
3.	The Pyre 18:16	buy track
4.	An Empire 08:01	buy track
5.	The Burning Wall 07:15	buy track
6.	Anthem 18:01	buy track

about

Returning from time apart to a world forever changed, dread-fuelled duo A SWARM OF THE SUN bring with them their fourth studio album, ‘An Empire’; its brooding, yet beautiful, melancholic narrative arc allows the band to dig ever deeper into desolation whilst a newfound lyrical focus adds a tenderness that is both harrowing and heartwarming at once.

With the early bones of forthcoming ‘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; continuing the thread of narrative composition seen on ‘The Woods’, ‘An Empire’ is a six-track tale told in four distinct movements that are nothing short of devastating, from plaintive piano ballads to raw, full-band fury.

Previously used to setting ‘ground rules’ or establishing a thematic framework for each project, the unexpected slow-burn process and surrounding air of trepidation meant that the A Swarm of the Sun’s rules for ‘An Empire’ were written as the album took on form. One early direction was to develop the album’s instrumentation purely in terms of texture; refining its sounds without compromising for the sake of convenience of familiarity. As such, ‘An Empire’ sees the band achieve a remarkable depth of orchestration that feels at once comforting and alien.

Whilst providing vocals, guitars, synth textures, piano, vibraphone, harmonium and musical saw parts themselves, Erik and Jakob are joined once again by long-time collaborators Karl Daniel Lidén (drums, mixing/mastering), Anders Carlström (bass) and Minna Larsson Heimo (pipeorgan) whilst also welcoming Vilhelm Weréen on trombone to produce an utterly unique sonic palette that crucially also leaves 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 slowly and inevitably rises to an inescapable crescendo of cymbal chaos and wall-of-sound guitar drone. Elsewhere, 18-minute epic ‘The Pyre’ represents Side B of ‘An Empire’ with the confessional intimacy of a waltz-time ballad; the raw, wavering emotion of Jakob’s words accompanied only by a haunting, lilting piano refrain before it too is consumed by the bittersweet might of post-rock euphoria to leave only embers of the apocalyptic lyrics in its wake...

‘An Empire’ marks a significant evolution of A Swarm of the Sun’s 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.

credits

released September 6, 2024

Performed by
Jakob Berglund (Vocals, synths and textures, vibraphone, harmonium, musical saw)
Erik Nilsson (Guitars, piano, variety of organs and keys, backing vocals)
Anders Carlström (Bass)
Karl Daniel Lidén (Drums)
Minna Larsson Heimo (Pipe organ)
Vilhelm Weréen (Trombone)
__________

Written and produced by Erik Nilsson and Jakob Berglund
Mixed and mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén
Recorded in Stockholm and Dalarna 2022 and 2023
Recorded by Erik Nilsson at Version Studio, Garaget Studio and Silvbergs Kyrka
Drums recorded by David Castillo and Karl Daniel Lidén at Studio Gröndahl

Bass recorded by Karl Daniel Lidén at Studio Gröndahl
Synths and textures recorded by Jakob Berglund at Fonogrambolaget
Vibraphone and vintage harmonics recorded by Mattias Olsson at Roth Händle Studios
Artwork, photography and lyrics by Jakob Berglund.

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about

A Swarm of the Sun Sweden

discography

An Empire

Sep 2024
20.11.03

Jan 2021
Zenith (Redux)

Aug 2020
The Woods

Jan 2019
The Rifts

Jan 2015
Zenith

Aug 2010
The King of Everything

Apr 2007

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