You can support Terra Relicta by donating! Please, do so, and thank you!
Band: Aeon Sable
Album title: Aether
Release date: 2 November 2018
Label: Solar Lodge
Tracklist:
01. ...Hand Of Glory & The Nihilist
02. Follow The Light
03. Deadlock Canon
04. Burn For Salvation
05. O Senhor do Medo
06. Dark Matter
07. Leaving The Fourth Season...
"We're drifting out of control, to the dark side of our soul..."
I don't think that Aeon Sable needs any introduction on our website, simply because everything was already said and if you still haven't discovered out this new era masters of dark rock/metal than really a big shame on you. Now the band which reinvented or better said invented a new niche inside the spectrum of gothic music is back with their new monster, their sixth album haughtily but justifiable named Aether. Even if Aeon Sable don't have to prove anything to anybody anymore about their greatness, they strive to reach with every new album more and more, just like if Per Aspera Ad Astra, Saturn Return, Aequinoctium, Visionaers and Hypaerion, weren't enough of masterpieces to deeply provoke the emotions of every lover of dark music, now these Germans with Aether go into unimaginable heights and offer an album that is simply meant to breake even those stylistical boundaries that still existed in dark rock or dark metal music.
Aether is just like we expected a groundbreaking and monumental album, I can easily say that albums like this are released only once in a while, even though that I could say this for every one of their past albums, but yet Aether has something more deep and sinister inside of it, even though that at certain points it connects with their previous album Hypaerion. Aether was in the making for a bit more time than any other of their previous albums, and this time was spent more than well. It's a monster of an album from every possible point of view and with its seven songs and with a bit more than one hour of transcedental music we are driven out of this space and time. Aether captivates your entire body and your soul in an instant with such ease that is difficult to put it into words exactly how.
Aeon Sable on this new album offer one of the most elaborate and elegant stylistical symbiosis that we ever heard. Yes, the band which was primarly influenced by the likes such as The Sisters Of Mercy and Fields Of The Nephilim expanded through the years their sound into directions that not many would dare to do so. It's obvious that Moonspell, Tiamat, Draconian and Type Of Negative to name a few have played their part here, but Aeon Sable throw into the sonic palette from album to album more and more of doom metal, post-rock/metal, blackgaze, black metal and now even a bit of cosmic drone. Every single one of these genres is in the case of Aeon Sable connected into a harmonious form with such artistical style that is in the end unmistakeable their own and pleasantly unique. This is "deep rock" that has the right pathos, energy, immersiveness and enough dark matter to embrace even the most sceptical lovers of sonic darkness.
On Aether Aeon Sable, although somehow still staying loyal to their roots, made a breaktrough. On this album we got the best ever vocal performance of the frontman Nino, who with his deep and varied vocal styles that range from highly emotional cleans, melancholic chants to harsh outbursts of blackened energy, with ease guides the listener through the hugely atmospheric and rich sound that is moderate where it should be and catchy at the very right moments. There are so many absolutely soul inspiring Din-Tah's trademark guitar melodies, as well crushing heavy riffs, huge gloomy keyboard parts, strong rhythmic line keeps everything in the right balance, yet everything is enriched with several electronic samples where most needed. The songs are all absolutely atmospheric, pretty dynamic, dark, evocative, sometimes quite multilayered and adventurous, there are some cinematic elements also thrown into the picture and I absolutely love the doomy pace of most of the compositions.
Aeon Sable know perfectly how to make songs that slowly progress and build up the tension, already the solemn opener named "...Hand Of Glory & The Nihilist" shows us how the masters do it, but the peaks of the album must be the emotionally astounding melancholia "Deadlock Canon", the haunting epic monster with Portuguese lyrics "O Senhor do Medo", cathartic but obviously a bit by Ison inspired cosmic journey named "Dark Matter" and of course the closing epic masterpiece, the atmospheric doom & gloom named "Leaving The Fourth Season". All these are in my opinion the best songs that this band ever recorded. Aeon Sable of course, like on every album before, didn't forget to satisfy their gothic rock fan base with extremely catchy melancholic popy groover "Follow The Light" and those who appreciate heavier gothic music will fall on their knees before the enigmatic "Burn For Salvation".
Aether is an epic album, a true monument that collapses the borders between goth rock and metal, some say this is post-goth, but no matter how you define or label it, Aeon Sable with it reached into the absolute heights. With perfect production that adds another level of depth and power to these already immense compositions, this band is now more than ever ready to reach "out of space, where everything is free, deep down where the spectrosphere generates every star we see...". There should be no bonds anymore that tie Aeon Sable only to the musical underground, with this masterstroke they are here to reach for the greatness. Aeon Sable has always stood for big themes and deep black abysses that are now more than ever revealed in the vast soundscapes of Aether. This is destined to be a cult album and every single dark soul out there should have no excuses to get his/her own copy of this album and embark on a journey called Aether. This is dark music in all its briliance!
"In the end my friend, everything returns to the black pond, leaving visions and memories back where they from. Between the ashes and cosmic dust, everything is formed anew. This rule is for me, this rule is for you."
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 10/10
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
