English
Last Updated on 20:37 by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Blackened Death
Country: Germany
Label: Ván Records
Year: 2023
It was more than a decade ago (2012), when these Germans shocked Death Metal Universe with their ferocious debut “Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide”. Their Blackened Death was a pure Lovecraftian brutal assault that was more than just promising. Now Sulphur Aeon returns with their 4th studio album, 5 years after the brilliant in its barbarity “The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos”, an album that established them as a strong name in Death Metal. They still refer to the Ancient Ones of Lovecraftian lore central as lyrical, conceptual, and ambiance speaking. But even though we can confidently talk about a significant pattern they follow yet their ambitions and approaching is more progressive and adventurous here. The pitch black waves have a beauty that Sulphur Aeon can give prominence to, while they dig deeper and deeper and stretch their artistic range and extend their aesthetic. Moody guitars, ferocious blast beats, refined melodic layers, hypnotic guttural vocals, suffocating atmosphere and a bleak cinematic vibe, are the ingredients that create a unique result. Morbid Angel, Dissection and Emperor are present as inspiration that draws from there megatheriums are filtered wisely from the band. It seems that Sulphur Aeon have focused on orchestration and without leaving their guitar driven sound, they have somehow try to write more memorable choruses and melodic parts without though sacrificing any of their sound’s savagery.
In terms of artwork, this time around Sulphur Aeon broke with the tradition of working with Ola Larsson once again but teamed up with Italy’s Paolo Girardi to depict a Lovecraftian apocalypse opposing the album’s opulence and dynamics with a rawer style.
Highlights: the epic opener “Sombre Tidings”, the self-titled track, which features Laurent Teubl (Chapel of Disease) and Michael Zech (ex-Secrets of the Moon), “The Yearning Abyss Devours Us” which is incedible and probably the best of the record and “Usurper of the Earth and Sea” with the acoustic intro, the many tempo changes and the melancholic riff in the middle.
Venomous Wormholes – No Salvation
Hostile Transition into a Sulphurous Aeon!
