For the last couple of weeks I had delved in so deep into Defeated Sanity and Masachist and grind, that I had totally forgotten that some of the greatest exponents of death metal practice their craft miles away in the icy lands of Sweden. And right now I’m speaking about Aeon‘s new album Path of Fire, that once again reminds you why Swedes are one of the megaliths of death metal foundry. Sure these guys have always walked on the anti-religious path like their Norwegian counterparts do in their thriving black metal scene. But its their aggressive arrangements and impressive changes it has employed in those structures that makes me raise my horns to their music.
Aeon knows to keep things interesting and in Path of Fire they clever set in changes in the whole atmosphere of listening to them by employing wide arrays of Nil’s drumming techniques or Dahlstom’s clever shifting from high pitched to low pitched growls and vice versa. Guitars used in the album tend to be tilting little bit on the melodic side with the riffs and the leads mildly reminding of NWOBHM bands. But its the devastating combination of Nil’s ravenous blastbeats and piercing riffs that gives the album its punch. Sure there are a lot of lead guitar lines used sporadically in the album, but before you get used to them the band directs their music in a whole new direction. And this works greatly with me goes music needs to progress to new paths and not stagnate in the same old one.
Yes the Swedes do play some awesome death metal music, but these particular bunch of Swedes seems to be held in the awe of Vital Remains and Deicide, which becomes pretty evident by the time you cross over to the second half of the album where the fully charged assault on the instruments remind of the brutal music of Vital Remains and the likes. I think thats here the Finns stand out in their music, the Finnish death metal is unlike anything you have heard before. But the same cant be said for Aeon’s sound. Nevertheless the brutality of their music manages to rub on you when tracks like Forgiveness Denied and Total Kristus Invertus take the seat. The trademark Aeon features of high velocity death metal with technically proficient arrangements are characterized in tracks like Suffer The Soul and Liar In The Name Of God.
The lyrical content as I said earlier is anti-religious but it comes as a surprise to me considering vocalist Dahlstom is a member of Jehovah’s Witness. And though Dahlstom’s delivery could have been more intense, the album never disappoints in the spirit of its conception as the guys have charged head on against the topic rather than playing along with it. Production of the album is the best considering Erik Rutan handled it. Overall Path of Fire is a slab of solid blasphemous death metal that punches your stomach with a pack of brutality and intensity. Expect more from Swedes in the future, till then rise on your Path of Fire.
Review by Souvik Roy. Aeon – Path of Fire has been cross posted here.