Plague of Butterflies

Plague of Butterflies
EP by Swallow the Sun
Released	September 17, 2008
Genre	Death/doom, melodic death metal, progressive metal, gothic metal
Length	60:20
Label	Spinefarm
Producer	Swallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun chronology
Hope (2007) Plague of Butterflies (2008) New Moon (2009)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Terrorizer	(Nov 2008)

Plague of Butterflies is the first EP by the melodic death metal/doom metal band Swallow the Sun. It was released on September 17, 2008 in Finland and September 23, 2008 worldwide through Spinefarm Records. The song, "Plague of Butterflies", runs about 35 minutes in length and is divided into three parts, the first being titled "Losing the Sunsets," second being "Plague of Butterflies" and the last titled "Evael 10:00."

The EP also includes the Out of This Gloomy Light and Swallow (Horror Pt. 1) demos.

Track listing

1. "Plague of Butterflies" – 34:42

   I. "Losing the Sunsets"

   II. "Plague of Butterflies"

   III. "Evael 10:00"

2. "Through Her Silvery Body" – 8:01
3. "Out of this Gloomy Light" – 5:34
4. "Swallow (Horror Pt. 1)" – 5:27
5. "Under the Waves" – 6:36

Story

This is a personal look on the story that Plague of Butterflies tells.

I - "Losing the Sunsets"

The song begins and sets up the story of a man who loses a loved one named Evael in the woods during the cold season of winter. It is unclear whether Evael is related to him or a woman he loves very much; but he goes back to the woods each day and stays there for hours waiting for her return. Years pass, yet she still does not come back. He eventually sorrowfully returns to his village, depressed another day has gone and Evael has not returned to him. We also learn that Evael is cursed with carrying butterflies wherever she goes and is not forgiven as the woods say, but the reason is never revealed.

II - "Plague of Butterflies"

The second chapter of the song begins as the man returns to his village where we learn that a plague has been ravaging the town, taking the lives of everyone living there except the man. The only living things apart from him left in the village are butterflies, which are in great number. He still remains in the village though, hoping that one day his beloved Evael will return from the woods. He searches the bodies in the street looking to see if one of them is Evael, but when he does not find her he returns to his home. He lights a candle by the window, which attracts a single butterfly to dance around it - this is a foreshadsowing of the coming of Evael as she is the bringer of the butterflies and thus also the plague - and drifts off to sleep. He wakes up the next morning to find the candle has burnt out. He leaves his home and once again journeys out into the woods looking for Evael.

III - "Evael 10:00"

The third and final chapter of the song begins as the man has spent yet another day looking for Evael but has not found her. When the night falls he returns to his town again and lights the candle by his window and goes to sleep. Just before he falls asleep he expresses his disappointment that the plague has taken the lives of everyone around him, but for some reason has left him alive despite his sadness. As he is sleeping he suddenly wakes up to a noise, which sounds like a faint knocking at his door and to find his house filled with butterflies. He goes to the door and opens it to find his beloved Evael standing in his doorway. She falls into his arms barely alive, her eyes frozen from the many years she has lived in the woods. It is then that she reveals to the man that she had been lost in the woods and purposefully avoiding him because she was the original carrier of the plague and if she had returned to him, he would have become infected and died. Overcome with happiness that he at least gets to see her one final time before she dies, he tells her that it is okay and the two of them lay down together as the plague takes both their lives. When the clock strikes one past midnight, they vanish and the room is now filled with only butterflies. It is implied that both of them find peace in death, giving the story a bittersweet ending.

Chart positions

References