Sons Of Aeon - Sons Of Aeon review
Band: | Sons Of Aeon |
Album: | Sons Of Aeon |
Style: | Melodic death metal |
Release date: | January 2013 |
01. Faceless
02. Cold Waves
03. Burden
04. Enemy Of The Souls
05. The Centre
06. Havoc & Catharsis
07. Weakness
08. Seeds Of Destruction
09. Wolf Eyes
10. Black Sheep Process
As I'm sure you're well aware lighthouses are constructed for a particular purpose. Above all they serve as beacons for maritime transportation and are used to safely guide ships into port. They also have a characteristic shape and structure and while many may have their own variances in appearance they are all designed in a similar way to fulfill that particular purpose. Finnish melodic death architects Sons Of Aeon have designed themselves a debut album as sturdy as a lighthouse which meets its own purpose in guiding the listener to the shores of melodic and riff induced euphoria.
With guitarists Naukkarinen and Kiviniemi of atmospheric sludge outfit Ghost Brigade and Pasanen of melodic death/doom luminaries Swallow The Sun, the musicianship involved raises expectations. From the first few tracks a finely tempered death metal edge stands well to the fore injected with potent melodies might bring to mind the kind uncompromisingly administered by those sick psychopaths Carcass or Gothenburg greats At The Gates. Tracks like the absolutely vicious album highlight "Cold Waves" pack savage blows as the guitar work gives them bone crunching menace. There are a number of cuts that show determination to place a solid backing behind its highly melodic structure with precise drumwork, such as in the berating blast beats of "Seeds Of Destruction", and a thickly audible bass as its lifeblood. These guys seem keen to unearth a sound of long buried death metal in this volatile set of tracks.
However, while the foundation stones for this lighthouse may be drawn from older bedrock it is still just a lighthouse. It is one of many which light up the coastline and is at once derivative and something of its own. When you familiarise yourself with it, the album will expose its lack of varied structural features and will rarely diverge into anything more than what it is: a well pieced melodic death metal album. No more, no less save its unabashed desire to keep the death central to their melodic metal.
Yet the invigoration which is apparent in its inspirations gives it an uncompromised energy not always captured to the same effect within the genre. Some of this energy is lost in sub-par tracks like the middling "The Centre" or the closing instrumental piece "Black Sheep Process" which attempt to project atmosphere into an album all but bare of such. Much of the death edge is served up in the first few exhilarating tracks before being filtered by more standard fare efforts like "Weakness" or "Wolf Eyes" as the album draws to a conclusion.
No matter how many waves of criticisms of unoriginality and lack of diversity this album encounters those addictive melodic riffs aren't going anywhere. Like a well constructed yet unremarkable lighthouse this album, with its notable architects, fulfills its purpose in an expected fashion. Resistant to the tidal wear of repeated listens it manages to stand fast and assured of itself.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 8 |
Songwriting: | 7 |
Originality: | 7 |
Production: | 9 |
![]() | Written on 14.01.2013 by R'Vannith enjoys music, he's hoping you do too. |
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