The Swedish tech-death metal horde known as Aeon are back with their fourth release of anti-religious brutality, titled Aeons Black. Gone is virtuoso drummer Nils Fjellstrom, whose committments to Dark Funeral have forced him to step down from the drum chair, and he's been replaced here by the capable but perhaps less impressive Arttu Malkki. Aeons Black is perhaps just what you would expect from Aeon, complete with plenty of brutal, punishing & often times technical guitar riffs, blazing solos, boatloads of jackhammer drum blasts, and deep, evil growls from Tommy Dahlstrom. With 15 songs, there's lots to dive into (that might be a tad much for those with shorter attention spans) but in true Aeon fashion, the songs are somewhat catchy as far as brutal death metal goes, and no doubt any fan of Hate Eternal, Cannibal Corpse, and Morbid Angel will be all over Aeons Black.
Tunes like "I Wish You Death", "Still They Pray", and "Passage to Hell", are simply uncomprimising, as the band do a great job of not just blasting away with speed, but mix in crushing riffs from Daniel Dlimi & Zeb Nilsson that ebb and flow between mid-tempo doom riffs and the more manic death metal styled passages. "Nothing Left to Destroy" is a great example of brutal, technical & progressive death metal, with Dahlstrom leading the charge with some inhuman growls & screams and the band churning, weaving, and blasting behind him. The production of the album is quite good, possibly even Aeon's best sounding release to date, and there's a heaping amount of groove seeping out of these punishing tracks that gives the album as a whole a nice sense of balance and variety.
Now that the band is four albums into their career, and let's face it, each one has been pretty damn good, it's time that they started to climb up that extreme metal ladder and reap the rewards they deserve. There are plenty of bands who get way more press and exposure, especially here in the US, but for my money Aeon smokes a lot of them. I think they need to seriously get their butts over here and start touring a bit in order to gain that attention. Their talent will then do the rest.
Track Listing
1. Still They Pray
2. The Glowing Hate
3. The Voice of the Accuser
4. I Wish You Death
5. Garden of Sin
6. Neptune the Mystic
7. Nothing Left to Destroy
8. Passage to Hell
9. Aeons Black
10. Dead Means Dead
11. Sacrificed
12. Aftermath
13. Blessed by the Priest
14. Maze of the Damned
15. Die by My Hands
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