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Aeterna Hystoria > Legends of Ausphaal > Reviews
Aeterna Hystoria - Legends of Ausphaal

Symphonic Prog Excellence - 96%

ruigeroeland, December 9th, 2008

Aeterna Hystoria is a Progressive Metal band hailing from France, who released their debut album “Legends of Ausphaal” in november 2008. The band cites various bands as influences, ranging from Queen to Dream Theater to Therion. Not surprisingly, the music isn’t pure Progressive Metal, but incorporates various other elements.

Most notably influences are symphonic elements and occasional Folk-y passages, which are the courtesy of violin melodies. There are also some influences from the harder styles of metal, mainly in the vocal department, since there are some occasional growled parts. Progressive is the predominant style though. And I must say, this album is packed with great prog riffs. Great thing is that, although these riffs are a very important aspect of the music, the band manages to steer away from technical wankery just for the sake of it. The riffs are an organic part of the bigger picture, in which the violin and keyboard passages play an important role as well.

The album is quite varied, with riff-heavy songs but also calmer passages carried by some excellent piano and violin melodies. I am also quite amazed by the quality of the song writing, seeing this is the bands debut release.

I mentioned there are some growled vocals. Don’t be fooled though, these are only used in a supporting role. Center stage are the clean female vocals of Liliane, who has a great powerful sound. Seeing this is a French band, worth mentioning is that all lyrics are in English.

This is an independent release, but it is of excellent quality. Both the production and the packaging are highly professional and I would be surprised if they wouldn’t land a record deal with this release in the near future.