Band:	Aras
Album:	Hemaseye Andooh
Style:	Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	September 09, 2008
A review by:	Lucas

01. Sholehaye Sard
02. Rakhte Khak
03. Nefrine Rood
04. Raghse Baad

It appears the Middle East is slowly getting into Metal. And in particular Black metal. <insert half-assed cultural and historical analysis, throw in a lame joke on a completely unrelated subject, resume with the review as if nothing happened.>

...Whoops. Seems like my standard review-code is broken. I'll need a mechanic to fix it. Anyone?...

In the meantime, let's talk about Aras. Why Aras, you ask? Well, moron, because Aras' Hemaseye Andooh is the subject of this review. Aras is Black metal, hails from Iran, and just delivered it's umpteenth release Hemaseye Andooh. There.

Hemaseye Andooh consists of four songs with one main element: distorted riffs. It are the riffs that drive this entire thing forward. They have a very 'pushing' touch to them, as if they're build up like little waves of distortion constantly moving forward and forward and forward. Coupled with the sparse vocals, screamed at monotone pitch often in sync with the riffs, this creates a cool 'surge'-effect. A synthesizers throws up a wall in the background, drums pound in the front, but there's very little 'song writing'. It's basically one long, black stream. Imagine standing in a sewer, or, for some of us, recall the times you stood knee-deep in a sewer and peer into the distance. What do you see? Right, a non-stop flow of brown, muddy water. Perhaps a few surprises here, a dead goldfish, a couple of blood-soaked tampons, perhaps an alligator - but besides all that, not much variety.

But when I say it reminds me of a sewer, that's a good thing. Honestly. Although I don't really recognize anything as a 'song', and the entire thing is pretty flat, it's also pretty cool. Hemaseye Andooh is blessed with a lively and organic sound and also very short. Both factors benefit this release greatly.

In short, Hemaseye Andooh is a quick fix of fast, surging and accessible and melodic Black metal drones. If it'd have been a full-length it would probably have gotten on my nerves, but it isn't, so it didn't. It's a cool listen, but it's, paradoxically, also something I'd probably never spend my well-earned cash on. Why not? In the end, it's unfortunately hardly satisfying because it never goes anyway. Fun if you can get it for a fiver or for free.