AEON — Aeons Black (review)

AEON — Aeons Black album cover Album · 2012 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
adg211288
Aeons Black is the fourth full-length album to be released by Swedish death metal act Aeon. The album was released in 2012. Aeons Black is the first release from Aeon to feature drummer Arttu Malkki since the EP Dark Order (2001), although at the time of my writing this review he has since left the band again and been replaced with Emil Wiksten. The album also introduces Marcus Edvardsson to the band as the new bass player after bass duties were handled by guitarist Daniel Dlimi on Aeon’s previous album Path of Fire (2010).

The music on Aeons Black is very much straight up death metal. Aeon has a no frills attached approach and throughout the fifteen track album they relentlessly refuse to deviate from this form, although they do throw in a few brief interlude instrumental tracks at various times. It’s not excessively brutal but it does somehow manage to come across as a little monotonous at times. Take the opening track Still They Pray; while it does manage to pack a bit of a punch still it sounds somehow mechanical, rarely allowing me to appreciate the riffs, so the rare lead guitar lines that crop up in brief spurts are a welcome distraction. The Glowing Hate which is up second improves on Aeon’s sound a lot though, as the riffs are a bit more distinct. Fortunately the majority of the album contains tracks more to the standard of The Glowing Hate, but I can’t honestly say that Aeons Black particularly does it for me as a death metal release. At over fifty minutes long I’d have liked a few surprises within the track list as it often seems that the band took the same ideas for every single song here, and eventually the songs just seem to blur together and I have trouble recognising one from the other despite the relatively understandable growling.

While there is undoubtedly a market for death metal acts like Aeon and Aeons Black has ultimately been enjoyable enough for a casual listen they’ve failed to wholeheartedly convince me with this one. A shorter album would have worked in this style a bit better in my opinion as it’s worn out its welcome well before the end, but nevertheless, a good album rating is deserved since despite some faults that make it feel a bit soulless at times, it wasn’t a bad listen.

67/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/aeon-aeons-black-t2773.html))
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Galleons - Electric Emotions
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - Elsewhere (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - Neon Dreams (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
Galleons - I Travel East As Fievel Goes West Pt. 1 - Official Lyric Video
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 17 hours ago
FREEHOWLING - SCARS FT. AARON MATTS (TEN56.) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FREEHOWLING
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed