Aeternus is one of those bands that I never bothered to
check out in the past, why? Well to be honest I don't know, maybe I just felt
that I did not need another Norwegian black metal band in my life, so I never
paid any attention to them. So imagine
my surprise when my friend Nuno told me "check out this new song by Aeternus" and I was treated to something very different
to what I expected. I was later told by friends that Aeternus changed style years back and have been having their new sound
for quite a while. So my bad!
The song
Nuno played me was the song Ruin And Resurrect from Aeternus new
album ...And the Seventh His Soul
Detesteth , and the start of this song doesn't sound black metal at all! We
are treated to a Morbid angel sounding
riff, imagine something from the Domination
era and we are pretty damn close. Both in riffing, production and guitar tone,
but more about the production later. Overall I think the music on this album
sounds like if Morbid Angel decided
to play black metal, keeping a lot of their riffing but adding some black metal
riffs and ways of playing and using both more standard death metal vocals but
also black metal vocals and at some times using vocals more reminiscent of
those used in Mayhem. I'm also
getting a Lord Belial vibe from some
of the riffing and atmosphere on this album.
So is
this salsa a tasty one or is it just too much with all the changes??
Oh this
stuff is hot, I must say that I think it is fantastic! Every song is filled
with killer riffs and you are always kept at your toes cause you never know
what will come around the bend, and that is one of those quality's I love in an
album. Sure the ingredients in this salsa can be traced but the master chef
that put this sauce together did one hell of a job.
One thing that really put a smile on my face when I took the CD for its first spin was in the first song There Will Be None, first of the song is killer with a lot of dynamics and killer riffs, but around four minutes in the song a solo kicks in, and it is just so out of place that it is breathtaking. Because the part before is downright evil and creepy and this solo section to me just sounds like something out of a mid 90's drama show, like a cop show or something (maybe this doesn't make any sense, if so I'm sorry but this was the first thing I thought of when I heard it. To the Swedes reading this, think the show Rederiet). Besides the epic solo the drums are doing almost a disco beat, it is all just weird as hell, it is so awesome since it breaks up the song completely, but it works great together just the same, so bravo my friends, fucking bravo!
The epic soloing continues on more tracks on the record, but the first one is my favorite.
The album is filled with quick changes in tempo and mood, but everything works very well and nothing sounds slapped together and I think this shows great skill in the songwriting department, writing music this diverse is a real skill!
The paces on this record is all over the place from almost doomy to full on blast carnival, so this one is a real journey for sure. The drummer sure knows how to change things up, we are given all kinds of beats at all kinds of speeds. This dude is killer at what he does and he makes this album a real treasure.
We are also treated to some acoustic guitar every once and awhile, for example in the song Spurcitatias and the killer instrumental number Hubris, which is a nice oasis of acoustic bliss.
This song is very cool because it starts off with some very Nordic folksy sounding guitars and then a flamenco style guitar solo is played on top of that, and the contrast is sublime. As a guitarist myself I'm a sucker for these things, and this is true beauty. And of course it is a very nice way to keep the album dynamic!
As I
mentioned before the production or I guess I have to say the guitar tone
reminds me very much of Morbid Angel`s
guitar tone. But the tone of the guitars on this album is even dryer, it is
extremely dry. And for the most parts it works great, but on the high speed
tremolo parts some more gain would have been nice to my ears. But no big thing, everything works. The
production is crisp and clear, the drums are heavy and sounds very good. And
the bass is keeping it steady, often playing along with the guitar and filing
the album with some great low end.
Aeternus
was a very nice surprise for me and if you have never heard them check em out,
I think they will win over many new fans with this new album. If you are a long
time fan I'm sure that you will treasure this album since it is a real killer!
Sweden`s Wilhelm Lindh*, "Portuguese by adoption," guitar player, composer and owner of the Doom / Death Metal band The Gardnerz, reviews here in HeavyHardMetalmania.net. Careful and professional analysis to the music and albums with suggestions of what there is to see and hear ... not to be missed. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!".
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1: There Will Be None
2: ...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth 3: Spurcitias 4: Ruin And Resurrect
5: The Confusion Of Tongues
6: Hubris 7: Reap What You Saw 8: Saligia 9: The Hand That Severs The Bonds Of Creation 10: The Spirit Of Illumination “Dark Sorcery” (Bonus) 1. Black Dust 2. Victory 3. Raven and Blood 4. Nordlys (Instrumental) |
Dark Essence Records
“...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth”, hit the streets on the on the 22nd March in Norway and 1st April will be released world-wide.
“...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth”, hit the streets on the on the 22nd March in Norway and 1st April will be released world-wide.
Formed in Bergen, Norway in 1993 by guitarist and frontman Ares, AETERNUS has re-emerged seven years after the release of their last album “Hexaeon” with a new line up that comprises Ares on guitars and vocals, Phobos (GRAVDAL, MALSAIN) on drums andSpecter on guitars. One of the pioneers of what the band calls “Dark Metal”, AETERNUS’ sound combines features from both Black Metal and Death Metal with superlative guitar playing and occasional haunting, melodic interludes.
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| Aeternus` drawing is courtesy of Regina Kozlik aka Dina Dark Art |
"...And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth was produced by Bjornar E. Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) at the Conclave and Earshot studios in Bergen. All music is by AETERNUS, concept and lyrics by HELHEIM’s V’gandr. Artwork is by Timo Ketola, known for his work with bands such as for DEATHSPELL OMEGA, ASPHYX, DISSECTION, MARDUK, WATAIN and OPETH amongst others, band photos by Christine Ristesund. The bonus EP, “Dark Sorcery”, was recorded, mixed and mastered by Cato Langnes at Hindu Lyd in 1995 and produced by Aeternus. Lineup on “Dark Sorcery” is Ares on guitars and vocals, Erik (Vrolok) on drums and Ørjan on bass. All music and lyrics by Ares.
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