Single revealed:

YES.
Oh my gosh I love this guy for announcing it a month before it drops! This and Time II will battle it out for my AOTY.

Edit: AND he's gone back to massive 16-minute tracks! This will be incredible.

Here for it.

YES!! Finally!

Straight out of my first listen, and it's exactly as amazing as I'd hoped. Continues the Aquilus sound whilst providing plenty of surprises along the way, most notably "Sombre Loom". I have a feeling that listening to both parts back to back will be an incredible experience, together this can only be perfection.
Whilst I'll likely give this a 9, it's gonna be a while before I can decide on which is the better half, because while they are both similar, they're also very different. Overall II is more adventurous and dynamic, and I is darker and more brooding.

Been looking forward to this all week and it's not even on Spotify yet

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 03:07

Been looking forward to this all week and it's not even on Spotify yet

Youtube stream on BM promotion has been up since Thursday.

Written by 24emd on 03.05.2024 at 06:00

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 03:07

Been looking forward to this all week and it's not even on Spotify yet

Youtube stream on BM promotion has been up since Thursday.

Yeah I usually listen to my music at work, in the car or walking the dog, so YouTube isn't too convenient for me for music. I don't use it enough to pay for YouTube premium.

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 08:45

Yeah I usually listen to my music at work, in the car or walking the dog, so YouTube isn't too convenient for me for music. I don't use it enough to pay for YouTube premium.

Ok fair enough. I put aside an hour to listen on youtube with my phone's screen on I understand not everyone has that time.

Written by 24emd on 03.05.2024 at 09:32

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 08:45

Yeah I usually listen to my music at work, in the car or walking the dog, so YouTube isn't too convenient for me for music. I don't use it enough to pay for YouTube premium.

Ok fair enough. I put aside an hour to listen on youtube with my phone's screen on I understand not everyone has that time.

Oh I'll definitely get around to it. Just a bit disappointing when you're on nightshift, and you're waiting for midnight to hit, then you see the album isn't ready to listen to haha

Getting some early/mid-Opeth vibes from My Frost-Laden Vale, definitely the song that stands out most to me. I feel like they've dialled down the classical/symphonic aspects that they pushed on Bellum I, this one is perhaps a bit folkier, but I feel like the prog and atmoblack are more prioritized this time around.

I like this its metal whit many keyboarding, neoclassical, minimalistic, neo folk influences. I like this banger.

Written by 24emd on 03.05.2024 at 09:32

I put aside an hour to listen on youtube with my phone's screen on I understand not everyone has that time.

Off-topic: Get Brave browser for mobile, visit YT through the browser, watch videos without ads (and anything without ads and/or popus for that matter), and turn off your screen, if you want.

On-topic: This is a very nice album, a journey, so to speak. I really like "My Frost-Laden Vale".

This album is masterfully orchestrated. I've never given this guy the proper chance he deserves. But now that I've been listening to an Aquilus album in full a couple of times I must say that I've really been missing out. This is absolutely astonishing music. Really atmospheric and at times almost ethereal sounding. 2024 is full of surprises for me, and I'm loving this. I'm by my third listen now, and just.. Wow


Top Releases of 2024

Yep, very impressive album, but "My Frost-Laden Vale" is at another level entirely, that track is simply mind-blowing!

I like this much more than Bellum I, and I'm not quite sure why. The shorter tracks definitely lend itself to the songs feeling less all over the place, allowing the longer tracks to stand out with their twists and turns. I like how there's more of the folky side on this album too, whereas Bellum I had a lot less folky elements than Griseus did.

I'm not sure I like this as much as Griseus yet, but I am definitely finding more of this is sticking with me than on Bellum I.

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 03:07

Been looking forward to this all week and it's not even on Spotify yet

It's on bandcamp, so if you have the bandcamp app you can use that on your phone!



Edit: it's on Spotify now!

Truly exceptional music. Can't stop listening to. I agree with one of the comments above. Definitely early Opeth vibes. This album fills the void left after Opeth decided to go stupid

Written by 24emd on 03.05.2024 at 06:00

Written by Oldy86 on 03.05.2024 at 03:07

Been looking forward to this all week and it's not even on Spotify yet

Youtube stream on BM promotion has been up since Thursday.

It appeared few days ago

Album of the year easily !

I'm definitely the odd one out. Tried this a few times and - much like Bellum I - it's just totally devoid of the magic captured on Griseus. It has an incredibly rich sound, like all Aquilus releases, but ironically it's compositionally flat. This reminds me a lot of Wilderun's last two albums: they sound good, but they also don't.

Don't get me wrong, there are truly lush and beautiful moments all over this album, but the composition lacks coherence which totally kills the flow.

Written by LeKiwi on 14.05.2024 at 03:09

I'm definitely the odd one out. Tried this a few times and - much like Bellum I - it's just totally devoid of the magic captured on Griseus. It has an incredibly rich sound, like all Aquilus releases, but ironically it's compositionally flat. This reminds me a lot of Wilderun's last two albums: they sound good, but they also don't.

Don't get me wrong, there are truly lush and beautiful moments all over this album, but the composition lacks coherence which totally kills the flow.

Na I totally get what your saying, it's like there's a lot of drama and atmosphere but the magic feeling just never comes.

Written by no one on 14.05.2024 at 08:06

Na I totally get what your saying, it's like there's a lot of drama and atmosphere but the magic feeling just never comes.

Yeah that's exactly it. 1hr-long tease tbh

Written by no one on 14.05.2024 at 08:06

Written by LeKiwi on 14.05.2024 at 03:09

I'm definitely the odd one out. Tried this a few times and - much like Bellum I - it's just totally devoid of the magic captured on Griseus. It has an incredibly rich sound, like all Aquilus releases, but ironically it's compositionally flat. This reminds me a lot of Wilderun's last two albums: they sound good, but they also don't.

Don't get me wrong, there are truly lush and beautiful moments all over this album, but the composition lacks coherence which totally kills the flow.

Na I totally get what your saying, it's like there's a lot of drama and atmosphere but the magic feeling just never comes.

I think that's totally fair. Do you think that magic feeling you got with Griseus came from the lack of context and expectation of it? With Bellum I and II, you've already heard Griseus and the expectations are now set to *that* level and you have the context of knowing the kind of music and songs you're going to get?

It's just something I've been thinking about having listened to it as well, because Griseus was a totally magical experience for me. This one definitely feels more like Griseus than it does Bellum II, but it doesn't quite capture it the same.

I actually think this one is more coherent than Griseus was - that's due to the shorter tracks. The 2 longer tracks definitely travel more than Griseus but those feel like intentional moments of wandering amidst the other more consistent tracks, whereas on Bellum I it all felt much more disjointed.

I hesitate to call this my favorite Aquilus album because I'd rate them all about the same when I take all their aspects into account, but Bellum II does have my favorite batch of his songs in it, tracks 1-5. Something about that whole section just feels more cohesive to me.

Nigh To Her Gloam is definitely one of his better long epics. My Frost-Laden Vale has a lot of really cool parts but does a bit too much starting and stopping for me to like it as much as the rest, which was the only recurring problem I had with Griseus. Bellum I felt like it kept improving as it went along while Bellum II starts strong and stays strong for most of its runtime until the last couple tracks settle down to make a nice outro and lay the whole journey to rest. I find all of his albums to be consistently great although they're not something I return to often.

Yeah I'm kinda shocked this is rated the same as Bellum I, because I feel like that's easily the weakest of the three albums. It had a strong 2nd half but the first half (minus Moon Isabelline) is the weakest section in all the albums combined. Not to say I think Bellum I is bad, it just feels like this is much improved across the board.

That eerie orchestral section at 7mins in "My Frost-laden Vale" made my eyes snap open when I first heard it - easily one of my favourite musical moments of 2024.

Liked the album, the times when he goes into accoustic passages are my favourite ones. Compositionally I think Aquilus' music matches closely to Ne Obliviscaris.