The Embodiment of Darkness and Light

Aeon of Horus is a four-piece progressive death metal band from Canberra, Australia, they've been around since 2006 and this is their debut from 2008. And it's good!

Aeon of Horus play progressive with a touch of melodeath particularly in their guitar sound mixed with singer Andy Annands keys. The vocals are pretty good, not very growling though, so do not expect that. He screams sometimes but in general has a pretty harsh vocal going on that fits the music nicely. The drumming is pretty good, but not that special and the bass is not very audible. So this bands focus is mainly the vocals, guitar-riffing and soloing along the keys and harsh vocals.

I think this album has a good blend of many things, some parts the keys manages to create a more "beautiful" atmosphere, rather with just the vocals, guitar and drums. I don't think death metal is supposed to be beautiful.. In that way at least! "The Embodiment: Part One - Of Darkness" is a good example of the use of keys. There is a piano part in the beginning (that means about 1 minute gone), where the guitar goes along the keys and drumming with some nice soloing. Later in the song the music switches again, and builds up an epic guitar solo with synths in the background. Just fucking awesome. And this album is pretty much full of such epic parts.

And then there is a small acoustic song put in named "The Pillars" with some drumming in the background, that is also an example of the variation of the album.

All in all this album is pretty good. It's pretty progressive, and you wont get bored. I'm looking forward to another release!

Australians Aeon of Horus have created an impressive debut in the field of progressive death metal, a balance of chops and musicianship and the restraint required in concocting tight, focused tracks. Though this is a band of ability who can unleash polyrhythms and arpeggios when desired, they never wank off with displays of unnecessary technical wizardry. I often detect a slight math metal influence in the songs, in particular the chugging sections, which reminded me of Meshuggah, but these are the exception and not the rule.

The album opens with "3C321", a collection of winding riffs, arpeggios and breakdowns which gets really interesting at its mid point with some of the faster paced riffs and the nice atmospheric break with the synthesizer and guitar lead. While decent, this is nowhere near the best on the album, as you'll notice soon enough when you hear the following "Conquering the Speed of Light", which features some killer speed/thrash riffs intertwined among the discordant breakdowns. "The Embodiment Part One: Of Darkness" features some killer drumming and a tense but reflective atmosphere, accented by some tasteful synth work. "Part Two" is just as good, if even busier, and has some of the better 'math' breakdowns on the recording. "The Pillars" is a nice acoustic track. The rest of the album is pretty consistent, with "Arrogantly Opposing Reality" and "As the Earth Shatters" also among my favorite tracks on the album.

The sound here is very direct...nice and clean so you can capture every note on the album. The band are all impressive at their instruments, but as I mentioned before, it's their restraint and focus on creating adventurous, riff-by-riff compositions that makes this an album worth the time of any fan of technical and progressive death metal. The album's use of Egyptian mythos and cosmic lyrical themes are always interesting. The Embodiment of Darkness and Light is a well balanced attack, a very complete debut. It should see the band a good signing and some attention.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com