To deliver on one’s promises is an important thing to do, as it shows loyalty, truthfulness and integrity. Sometimes it is also pure pleasure and today it really is: VoS is proud to present you the second single off Sunniva’s upcoming debut full-length Hypostasis. You can enjoy “Valovaltimo”, the next chapter from this breathtakingly pounding Post-Metal outfit!

The track displays a lot of the key elements to the Sunniva-sound: a love for dissonance, an ear for versatile drumming and a knack for melodies, because even if you might not recognize them at first, one can find them throughout this 7,5-minute-epic, the guys from Åbo came up with. Wait, did I say Åbo? Well, I meant Turku, but essentially both is correct and relevant for this track. “Valovaltimo” is sung in Finnish and Swedish, with the latter written and performed by Lotta, the singer behind Svarta Havet, who released a great record earlier in May; the Svarta Havet songs are delivered in Swedish. There could be no better place for this collaboration than Turku/Åbo because as you can already see - the city is a multicultural hub, being the biggest city for the Swedish minority in Finland and also putting their mark on the city.

The track is a (heavy) meditation on death - its inevitability and the way we deal with it, for death is the final chapter, but it’s also the final chapter in everyone’s and everything’s book, we cannot escape if no matter how hard we try. Therefore why bother with it (unless you are a young person and should live a lot longer!), when it is unavoidable? We bother because we fear. We fear what will “come” after or if there will be anything after it. Singer Oliver had a dream upon which the whole song is based and which showed him how calm some animals accepted death while we humas were trying to fight it. However, the “event” will probably be easier and less disturbed if we take it for what it is. One end. Not necessarily “the”, but one. The musical side of “Valovaltimo” is as remarkable as its topic - we get huge towering walls of riffs, stacked upon each other until the final peak is the moment of calm or acceptance. A standout track on a standout record!

Nevertheless, we have another promise to keep, which we announced on our socials last week - we have another great Sunniva-gift for you: On September 14th, you will get to know the band much better, if you check out the interview we did with drummer Jaako and singer/guitarist Oliver! A remarkable talk with a lot of insight into how the band works, you won’t be disappointed, and will also find out why it was not easy for Oliver to write this song in Finnish and what Callisto’s Markus contributed to the track!

You can pre-order Hypostasis from the Svart Records webstore. Nonetheless, ignore my babbling and listen to “Valovaltimo”