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intothewellsabyss
Nov 20, 20223 min read

Aeon - Aeons Black (2012)

FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…



On November 20, 2012, Aeon released their fourth full-length studio album Aeons Black via Metal Blade Records.


It is the only Aeon record featuring bassist Marcus Edvardsson, who left the band in March 2013, and the first record since 1999's Dark Order to feature drummer Arttu Malkki. It is also the last album to feature Malkki as he left the band due to family reasons, as well as the last album to feature rhythm guitarist Daniel Dlimi.


“For this album, Aeon set a new standard in the world of Death Metal! At the time of its release, Aeon were truly one of the few great Swedish Death Metal bands left. Aeons Black is a compelling and blasphemous work of art. With its combination of sheer brutality, melody, and abhorrence for all that is holy, song after song pummels your mind, sending shock-waves down your spine with technical riffs and thunderous grooves. If you are a true fan of Death Metal, this album absolutely belongs in your collection.” — E.N. Wells

Commenting on the album upon its release, Aeon founding guitarist Zeb Nilsson said;

"This is definitely our most varied album to date; it has heavier songs, yet it also has lots of fast blastbeats and double bass drumming. It's groovier this time, which I think we lacked on our last album, “Path Of Fire”, which was fast-paced almost all the way through. That, and the amazing mix by Ronnie Björnström, makes me feel pretty confident that this album will appeal to more people than our previous albums. And no, we have not gone softer in any aspect; it's just easier to catch with all this grooviness. It's metal right up your ass!"

Background:

In 2013, following the release of Aeons Black, it was announced that drummer Malkki was expecting twins, and thus had decided to take a break from Aeon. His spot was temporarily filled by Emil Wiksten. However, on January 28, 2013, Wiksten had replaced Malkki permanently. Later in 2013, it was announced that bassist Marcus Edvardsson had stepped down in order to focus more on his other band Souldrainer. His replacement was Tony Östman. In October 2013, Daniel Dlimi also left the band. He was replaced by Ronnie Björnström, who had produced Aeons Black. Björnström, in turn, departed from Aeon in March 2015 for health reasons.



Critical Reception:

In his review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia had this to say about Aeon’s Black;

“In a world of infinite musical permutations, crossbreeding, and experimentation, it's sometimes refreshing to stumble on a group happy to focus on the fundamental ingredients of a universally beloved (and reviled, sure) musical genre such as death metal. As the saying goes, why fix something if it ain't broke to begin with, right? Not that there's anything remotely "happy," never mind "lovely," about Aeon's fourth volume of punishing, blood-curdling, Christ-baiting death metal, 2012's devastating Aeons Black. No, very much like all of its predecessors, this album traffics in high-intensity and often high-velocity percussive battery, staccato guitar sludge, and those ever-present Cookie Monster roars, with a few pinch harmonics punctuating this and that song (e.g., Garden of Sin, Dead Means Dead, Blessed by the Priest), a rare concession to alien extreme metal interests. These characteristics don't mean that the album does entirely without well-timed melodic swerves (see The Glowing Hate, Nothing Left to Destroy, etc.) and even temporal softer dynamics (The Voice of the Accuser, Passage to Hell, and that's, errrr, about it), but Aeon clearly aren't tempted to get cute or betray their purist hearts. Naturally, everyone's favorite martyr, J.C., comes in for an inordinate amount of verbal abuse from start to finish; catching a short break during Neptune the Mystic only to get called out by name on I Wish You Death and, among many others, the title track, which demands "Where's your savior? Where's your God?" Not listening to Aeons Black, that's for sure, but so long as you suffer no such religious qualms and like your death metal traditional, technical, and brutal, perhaps you should.”

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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