UMUR "Seven Crowns And Seven Seals" is the fourth full-length studio album by German death metal act Sulphur Aeon. The album was released through Van Records in October 2023. It´s the successor to "The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos" from December 2018. Five years is a pretty long time between album releases even these days, but Sulphur Aeon did release the "Unaussprechliche Kulte (Live at Culthe Fest 2019)" live album in 2020 as a stop gap release.

Stylistically the material on "Seven Crowns And Seven Seals" is a new musical direction for Sulphur Aeon. They still play a technical blackened death metal style, but the suffocating and at times chaotic layering of the previous releases have been replaced by clear and detailed production values, which provide the band´s music with an almost completely different sound. The transformation towards this more accessible sound was already initiated on "The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos", but Sulphur Aeon have taken this songwriting approach a step further on "Seven Crowns And Seven Seals". while the music can still be brutal, blasting, and heavy, Sulphur Aeon also incorporate a lot of atmospheric parts and the dynamics of the music also shifs a lot. When they are most melodic and atmospheric I´m sometimes reminded of Gojira, and that´s certainly not an influence I´ve heard in their music before.

It´s interesting how some artists stagnate while others continue to seek new musical discoveries and push the boundaries of their musical expression, but what´s more interesting is how fans of an artist perceive change and development of sound. In the case of Sulphur Aeon I´ve read opinions in both ends of the spectrum regarding their change from suffocating chaos to the more accessible sound on "Seven Crowns And Seven Seals", but to my ears this is a high quality release, which is both challenging, melodic, epic, and intriguing (but ultimately quite easily accessible for the genre). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" is the debut full-length studio album by German death metal act Sulphur Aeon. The album was co-released through F.D.A. Rekotz and Imperium Productions in January 2013. Sulphur Aeon was formed in 2010 and released a demo on 2011 and the "Deep Deep Down They Sleep" EP in 2012.

Stylistically the material on the 11 track, 44:44 minutes long album is technically well played and atmopsheric death metal. It´s predominantly fast-paced, but the band occasionally slow things down a bit and play more heavy riffs and rhythms ("Monolithic" is an example of that). Sulphur Aeon produce a massive wall of sound, which provides their music with a majestic atmosphere, and the music is generally more focused on atmosphere than it is riff driven, which in some ways makes it more akin to black metal than to traditional death metal (there´s also a feeling of controlled chaos when the drums blast away under a wall of tremolo picked riffs, that is very similar to the way much black metal sounds). The vocals are death metal growling though and upon closer examination this is definitely a death metal release.

"Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" features a professional and powerful sounding production and Sulphur Aeon are a very skilled act, performing their music with great conviction. So on most parameters "Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" is a high quality death metal release. Personally I could have wished for more memorable riffs and less focus on atmosphere, because not many tracks stand out with catchy riffs/rhythms or memorable vocal phrases, which means that many of the tracks featured on the album are hard to tell apart. When the band occasionally slows things down or play a more melodic oriented part, that´s when they are most interesting.

Other than those moments the album tends to become a bit of a monotone listen. There are still enough quality elements here to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating, but given the fact that Sulphur Aeon are obviously an incredibly skilled band, it is slightly disappointing that their compositional skills aren´t quite up to par with their performances (at least when it comes to writing memorable tunes). This is a debut album though and I expect the memorability of their songwriting to improve on future releases.

Necrotica Right from the beginning of opener “Cult of Starry Wisdom,” a strange mix of sensations defines The Scythe of Chaos at large. That is, the feeling that you’re drowning and being crushed at the same time. The slow riffs in the intro are accompanied by vibrato-laden Warrel Dane-esque vocals that somehow add to miserable and ritualistic vibe, but you just know that blastbeats and aggressive tremolo riffing will be there to wash it all away. And soon enough, they do just that. Truly, this dichotomy is what marks the album and distinguishes it from other death metal experiences this year.

However, it’s important to note that the former of these approaches is what really matters in the case of The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos. Simply put, the atmosphere is Thick with a capital “T.” The slow moments, which are especially prevalent in highlights such as “Yuggothian Spell” and “Thou Shalt Not Speak His Name - The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos” are the sonic equivalent of wading through a vast, thick pool of mud while being pounded down by the continuous aggression of the punishing death metal riffage. And yet, somehow, this all still translates very well to the faster, more blastbeat-oriented moments that juxtapose those sections. The tempo and dynamic shifts aren’t nearly as jarring as you’d expect them to be, perhaps due to the excellent black metal-influenced production that anchors it. The unusual mixing job leads to a sound that’s both gritty and yet somehow beautifully esoteric; in any case, “vast” is probably the best word I can use to describe it.

The band members themselves are certainly up to the challenge of delivering this material too, with a palpable fusion of technicality and brutality that rivals any of today’s progressive death metal luminaries. The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos finds many of its best moments in the “little things” that are used to color and flesh out this sonic world. For instance, the intro to “Veneration of the Lunar Orb” wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without Daniel Dickman’s flashy drum fills that plow through the main riff and give it some personality. Likewise, songs like “Sinister Sea Sabbath” and “The Summoning of Nyarlathotep” make extensive use of harmonies during their slower moments to provide just that extra touch of melancholy. Speaking of lead guitar, Torsten Horstmann and Andreas Koort do an excellent job of using their neoclassical influences to switch between despair in the slow sections and a sort of sinister Middle Eastern (that is to say, harmonic scale) element in the faster parts. “The Oneironaut/Haunting Visions Within the Starlit Chambers of Seven Gates” (what a title!) is especially notable for those Middle Eastern harmonies, particularly in the fantastic intro.

There is, unfortunately, a certain homogeneity that sets in after a while. If you aren’t listening too intently, things may start to blend together after the third track or so; it also doesn’t help that every song is in the same key as well (though I suppose Terminal Redux did that as well). As such, Scythe of the Cosmic Chaos gets a tad exhausting as it nears the end of its run. Still, if you give it a listen with the primary intent of exploring its intricacies, it’ll be easy to get lost in its phenomenal atmosphere and rock-solid songwriting. If you consider yourself a fan of progressive death metal or death/doom, don’t hesitate to pick this one up if you see it.

UMUR "Deep Deep Down They Sleep" is an EP release by German death metal act Sulphur Aeon. The EP was released through Imperium Productions in May 2012. It´s the band´s first official label release. Sulphur Aeon were formed in 2010 and released the "Sulphur Phalms" demo the same year, before releasing this EP. None of the material from the demo is featured on "Deep Deep Down They Sleep".

"Deep Deep Down They Sleep" features 2 tracks, and a full playing time of 8:42 minutes. Both tracks are in a technically well played, brutal, and atmospheric death metal style. It can sound quite chaotic because lots of things happen all the time in the music, but Sulphur Aeon are both skilled musicians and composers, and the chaos is cleverly structured.

The sound production is professional, powerful, and pretty raw, which suits the music perfectly. So it´s obvious that Sulphur Aeon have a lot to offer the listener. The tracks could have been slightly more catchy, but that´s a slight issue, and considering it´s the band´s first official label release it´s actually quite impressive. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Sea Whisperer Sulphur Aeon is a German Death Metal band, founded in 2010. “Deep Deep Down They Sleep” is their first EP, which was released in 2012. Lyrics of their songs are based on H.P. Lovecraft’s works, mainly on Cthulhu mythos.

From the first seconds of the title track listener is greeted by fast and intense Death/Black metal in vein of early Behemoth and Morbid Angel. Guitars create an impenetrable wall of sound with tremolo riffs upon it, drums provide thunderous blast beats as well as more intricate parts in slower fragments and vocals by Martin Hellion are powerful and furious. Yet another important part of the bands’ sound is production – it is rough and a bit muddy, and its contribution to the atmosphere of this EP is immense. Slightly hissing guitar sound along with crushing drums makes you think about roaring sea, in whose unfathomable depths ancient horrors from beyond the stars are sleeping.

Despite of overall brutality of music here, there are plenty of simple yet hauntingly beautiful guitar lines, providing a necessary contrast with rhythm parts. In the second track they also act as small leitmotivs: a pulsating two-note pattern with a periodic change in pitch is all this band needs to create ominous atmosphere.

Summary: a very solid work, skillfully capturing the mood of Lovecraft’s writings. This record is only about 9 minutes long, but it’s packed with amount of fury and raw power worthy of full-length album.