AEON

The technical death metal sound of Sweden’s Aeon hits you straight away as the speakers fire into brutal, cacophonous life. There’s no messing about here with atmospheric intros - we’re straight into the riffs! Now I like the sound I’m hearing - precise and honed. The only thing is, it’s a bit generic - certainly well played but has it got enough of its own identity to stand up in an oversaturated market? On first listen, maybe not! But the creative solos and especially the end song, ‘No One Escapes Us’ really piqued my interest - it sat at juxtaposition to the rest of the album and offered me that interesting hook. So, another listen through! The vibe is there, I’m starting to see why Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster describes them as, “Simultaneously crushingly brutal and infectiously catchy”. It’s the lead guitar work that helps lift this above many of the current crop of DM bands at the moment – at times I’m reminded of Nocturnus’ scientifically precise twin lead weirdness! And yes the songs don’t take that long to have familiar hooks in them that keep you coming back for more. This is the band's third album (and first for Metal Blade), from a band that started in 1999 and have kept growing since then to become a well respected name in the DM genre (I’ve noticed their t-shirts being worn by various DM luminaries in photo shoots!). Given the right push by Metal Blade this is a band that has the right caliber of music to head on for bigger things. From a solid starting point of 7/10 (on first listen) I’ve upped this to a well deserved 8.5/10.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Blade Records

Album

RISE TO DOMINATE

Review by Paul Sims

RUNNING TIME:

45:08

RELEASE DATE:

10th Sept 2007

TRACK LISTING

1) Helel Ben-Shachar
2) Spreading Their Disease
3) Living Sin
4) Hate Them
5) You Pray To Nothing
6) Caressed By The Holy Man
7) House of Greed
8) Godless
9) When The War Comes
10) There Will Be No Heaven For Me
11) Luke 4:5-7
12) No One Escapes Us

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Sweden

"...the songs don’t take that long to have familiar hooks in them that keep you coming back for more."