Band:	Aegaeon
Album:	Being
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	July 20, 2012
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. Introduction
02. Demise
03. Human
04. The Memory
05. The Ineffable
06. Catharsis

Aegaeon are a death metal band that hail from Evansville, Indiana deep in central US of A, and not from the moon of the same name that is currently orbiting Saturn. Being, their 2012 EP is their third self-financed release following 2009's Exponential Transcendence EP and last year's full length, Dissension.

As far as the death metal tag goes, I'm not terribly sure. This sounds more akin to Meshuggah than, say, Morgoth. While they have the atypical low end roar on the vocal end, the music is predominately mid-paced with a more proggy/djenty feel than the early 90's death metal albums that make up my collection. "Human" is the only track which at times, shows off the thudda-thudda-thudda-thudda blasts I associated with the genre.

Now this is not a criticism, just an observation to set expectations in the proper place.

The release eases in and out with mellow, quiet intro and outro tracks, but once you hit the meat of the release the band rages forth with a varied metal attack. Beyond the aforementioned stereotypical roars, the band mix and match a mid-tempo attack with slower crushing riffs, some break downs perfect for a fun time in the pit, and some nice really nice melodic harmonies which do an excellent job rising above the pounding and thudding going on in the background to help engage the listener.

There are some drawbacks, likely the result of self-financing. The vocals are a bit typical and placed well in the fore, which perhaps draws attention away from the music. The drums feel flat - not the performance, just the sounds. The guitar tone, while fantastic for the leads and melodies, is perhaps another factor in my assessment of the genre tag? they have a more clinical feel when riffing away (which ushered in the Meshuggah thoughts into my melon), and might benefit from being a bit more raw during more aggressive, fast tempo parts.

Then again, the band are relatively new and with more experience, some growth, and a slightly bigger studio budget I have no doubts they could use this good EP as a building block to help create some dynamic metal.