Review: Aeon-Aeons Black

Hey guys! I hope your Thanksgiving break was good, today I will be reviewing Aeon's new CD Aeons Black (Metal Blade). 

Before I begin I would like to say that yes I know this album came out last week, but I really wanted to review it and could not get my hands on a copy before I went away on break, so here is the review post break. 

I will admit before this year and this album I had never heard of Aeon until the video for "Aeons Black" came on my youtube feed.  I will say that I wasn't particularly blown away at first listen, but I did some more research on them and listened to some more songs and then I was hooked.  I ordered one of their older albums, Rise to Dominate (Metal Blade), and went on a hunt for this new album.  After a few days of searching I finally found it in a store called 2nd Avenue Records in Portland OR.  I was really hoping that this album would be worth all the trouble I went through to get it.  And boy did it deliver.  

Aeon has always had a reputation of being a rather blasphemous death metal band, writing songs bashing on the church and Christianity (think of them as the Swedish version of Deicide, at least I do).  Aeons Black does not let up that trend.  It is a CD packed with 15 tracks of brutal, thrashing, and down right evil death metal.  

Each song packs the punch of a twenty ton hammer, regardless of the tempo.  Most of the songs on the album are played at high tempos, "Nothing Left To Destroy", "Sacrificed", and "Still They Pray" are all prime examples.  But one of the more powerful and brutal songs on the album is the slow tempo title track "Aeons Black".  The tempo of this song does not subject the listener to want to head bang at break neck speeds but instead bang your head along as Aeon spreads the message of their dark gospel.  Its almost as if the listener is tied to a chair and the lead singer is screaming the lyrics in your face: "Where's your savior? Where's your god?" There is nothing you can do as you are forced to listen to every evil word the band has to say.

That brings me to their singer, Tommy Dahlstrom, the evil priest of the church of Aeon.  As far as death metal singers goes he is one of the best.  Even though Tommy produces great low death growls the diction of his voice is very clear.  Much like the band Ghost, who's vocalist sings in a clear voice that makes their evil message even creepier because you can understand it, Tommy has refined his vocal style to a point where you can listen to an Aeon song and know what he is saying without the use of a lyric sheet.  This makes the message Aeon is spreading even more evil.  There is no need to look through the lyric book to find out what he is saying, its clear and it is sinister. 

Overall Aeons Black is a great package of dark and evil death metal, each song more sinister than the next.  Even though the CD has 15 songs it kept me interested and never looses its intensity.  More importantly it left me wanting more.  There aren't too many 15+ track albums I can say that about.  If you are a fan of dark and brutal death metal a la Cannibal Corpse and Deicide, then there is no reason not to have Aeons Black in your collection.

Rating: 9/10 

Thanks guys!
-Zach

Remember guys if there is a band you want me to talk about or an album you want me to review leave a comment or tweet me @zachktheanimal