Tampere’s Rare Elements released “Shadow of the Black Sun” on February 13th, a track that moves between thrash metal, melodic death metal, prog metal, and heavy rock while maintaining a sound that’s distinctly its own.
The project is the work of one person, Harri Sarpavaara, who handles everything: composition, lyrics, arrangement, production, instruments, and vocals. The single was recorded, mixed, and mastered at RE Studio in January. Lyrically, the song reflects humanity’s capacity for imagination and what happens when that gets twisted into limitless greed, cruelty, and self-destruction. The “shadow of the black sun” is a metaphor for an unavoidable fate we’ve shaped ourselves into.
Musically, “Shadow of the Black Sun” feels as apocalyptic as its title and the metaphor it stands for, an inevitable, horrible fate that awaits us at the edge of time. The guitar riffs feel bigger than life, and while harmonically inspired by black metal tonality, the rhythm and delivery of the riffs are more rock-like, which gives Rare Elements its unique sound. Also, the usage of that big Hans Zimmer-esque drone that ushers in the main riff like the harbinger of doom motif, or like in old times where big horns were used to signal oncoming death and destruction, is a very nice touch.
For a one-person project, “Shadow of the Black Sun” has a huge presence. Sarpavaara clearly knows how to layer and arrange in a way that doesn’t feel thin or overly digital, which is a trap a lot of solo metal projects like Rare Elements fall into. The track succeeds because it commits fully to the apocalyptic theme without undermining it with half-measures.
