Songs from the North I, II & III

On this vast triple album from Finnish doom metal lords Swallow the Sun, each side represents a journey through specific realms of atmospheric metal, intense prog, and melodic doom. I swings from the thundering churn of “10 Silver Bullets” to the space opera of “Heartstrings Shattering,” while the acoustic II evokes a contemplative soundscape, with “Songs from the North” the aching centerpiece. III makes for a furiously bleak finish, with “The Gathering of the Black Moths” announcing the band’s punishing vision.