Black Sun Aeon – Blacklight Deliverance

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Cyclone Empire
Produced by Tuomas Saukkonen

Tuomas Saukkonen is an interesting person. Mostly known for his work in Before The Dawn, the multi-instrumentalist and fearsome screamer has an ever growing list of projects that he is associated with. A few of these are fully fledged bands (RoutaSielu, The Final Harvest, and of course Before The Dawn), and a few others are solo projects where he plays almost everything (Dawn of Solace). These latter two projects have over the years given Tuomas an outlet for songs that don’t fit the Before the Dawn musical style, Dawn of Solace for one album in 2006, and Black Sun Aeon regularly since 2008. Black Sun Aeon, in contrast to the very strict style that has been linked with Before The Dawn, is a project that Tuomas gives very few limitations, leaving releases under this moniker with certain signature elements, but are otherwise very musically varied.

Blacklight Deliverance, despite its short duration (only seven songs of moderate length), certainly shows the extent at which Tuomas is willing to push the envelope in regards to Black Sun Aeon’s scope. It keeps within the loose boundaries of doom, death and arguably goth, but still feels like a leap away from prior double album Routa. The album also sees the return of regular collaborators Mikko Heikkilä (Sinamore, RoutaSielu) and Janica Lönn (Lunar Path), taking much more central roles across the entirety. Also adding additional harsh vocals is Mynni Luukkainen (Sotajumala), again making a return appearance.

For all its diversity though, Blacklight Deliverance, as with much of Tuomas’s songwriting, blossoms for one very key reason – it is simple, yet still interesting and unique. Whilst there’s some piano and keyboards present, and Tuomas is proficient in all the instruments he plays, there’s nothing overly fanciful about how any of the songs are executed. Instead the pleasure of this album comes from the strong, powerful and emotional melodies coupled with the atypically warm and rich sounding production that is expected from the creator, along with a genuinely good knowledge of how to make great songs from the ingredients available. It isn’t striving to break out of simple song structure patterns – it seeks to make the fullest possible use of them.

Brothers starts the album with a relatively upbeat and punchy melodeath tune that wouldn’t be too out of place on a Before the Dawn album, with Tuomas and Mynni’s growls taking centre stage leaving the others to provide backing vocals as the song switches to a softer gear at its midway point. Before it closes, the listener is treated to some gentle acoustic guitar alongside Janica’s soft vocal melodies, leading into Solitude. The first video from the album, Solitude is a slower and broodier piece but with a strong, heavy melody. Janica takes the lead for the verses, whilst her male colleagues juxtapose clean and harsh vocals over the song’s anthemic chorus. Janica’s similarities to Cristina Scabbia do beg some complementary comparisons to an Unleashed Memories-era Lacuna Coil, especially when dueting with the sullen lead of Mikko. In contrast to Brothers‘ soft end, Solitude ends with a heavier riff, again leading well into the next track.

Sheol takes things up a gear and is a much more crushing death metal track, albeit with a grooving riff to open with. Tuomas sings most of this one solo, with his guitar effectively ‘singing’ the melody of the first chorus, with his heavy growl joining on the second. Janica joins to offer backing vocal-lines for the mid-section, before the song returns to full on death. Oblivion follows on from Solitude‘s lead, another mid-paced and melodic song that makes good use of Janica’s deep but feminine singing voice, dueting with Mikko – again, the Lacuna Coil comparisons are very apparent, but it feels like what that band could have been, rather than what they are now.

A sludgey riff kicks off Horizon, starting slow paced alongside more growling, before the song breaks into a rare bit of piano and more of Mikko’s clean singing. The album leans the most towards full doom-death at this point, only really picking up speed by the time the song reaches its epic concluding chorus. With its old record noise, acoustic guitar and delicate piano introduction (complete with record skipping), Wasteland soon breaks out and becomes the heaviest track on the album and sees the return of Mynni for a much more blackened affair. The song is also the most technically adventurous track on the album, with noticeably intense (albeit quite subtle) guitar work, and is generally notably heavier than the other songs on the album.

The album closes with the beautiful Nightfall, placing Janica in the lead. Her soft and elegant vocal-lines are perfectly executed, made even stronger by the second chorus where her lines are coupled sublimely by Mikko, making for the most sonically stunning moment of the album. The emotional intensity of their delivery is finally broken by Tuomas’s booming, epic guitar riffing, bringing the album to a close.

The songs on Blacklight Deliverance are indeed simple in structure but diverse across its whole, leaving a lot of flavours across its pallette. The vocal performances are, as a whole, flawless and superb – with Janica, a relative unknown, coming across as particularly magnificent. The album feels moody and emotional, but not dreary or overly gloomy. This is a personal and fulfilling album, and proves that strong melodies will win over complicated song structures. This is Tuomas Saukkonen at his best and doing what he is best at, and definitely one of the albums of the year.

“ powerful and emotional melodies ”

Tracklist: Brothers / Solitude / Sheol / Oblivion / Horizon / Wasteland / Nightfall

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Black Sun Aeon