Fieber

The record catched my attention right with the first track Gedanken ans Gefüge, which I found randomly on youtube a while ago. The attraction was great enough to search the record, which I found as a promo (thanks to promonetics and Ashen Productions). The search was really worthwhile as every song is as great as the opener I mentioned before. It was a wise decision to set Gedanken ans Gefüge as the opener, as it offers really everything the duo has to give. There are really catchy riffs, which will remain in your auditory meatus for quite a while, as well as incredibly well done drums, although they are a bit thrashed at times. Animo Aeger wrote quite complex songs, which makes it difficult to describe them properly. The opening song offers doubled vocal layers, which consist of clear vocals and really shriek and weird screamed ones (the reason why I mentioned feverish deleriums).

This would have been enough variation and sovereignty for quite some bands, but Animo Aeger wanted more. The orchestration and composition of the songs is really varied and they are pending between calm, catchy but still somewhat melancholy passages, furious and aggressive patterns with really deep growls and some post-metal influenced spoken passages. All elements I mentioned above are featured by every single song in different manifestations, without becoming to akin to eachother. It’s quite difficult to name some bands that are alike, as the style of Animo Aeger is really unique but it still reminds me of some bands, at least more or less. The first one would be Dornenreich, because of the poetic lyrics and the strange and shriek sung/whispered passages, the second one would be Nocte Obducta, mainly because the post-metal influences remind me of Sequenzen einer Wanderung but some harsher passages are a bit akin as well, but there are others to be named here, too. For instance the clean vocals remind me of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, as they sound quite alike at times.

The production of the first four songs is, without any doubt, really qualitative, crystal clear and full of power. You can hear every single element of the music (for instance _every_ single vocal layer, and there are several at times) but it’s still not overladen. The last two tracks are rehearsal recordings and therefore, of course, of a lower quality but still full of charme. I like the rawer sound, which probably allows to draw some conclusion on their developement. I want to emphasize, another time, how well done the vocals and orchestration are done, as you can’t spot any flaws or such. Even the most difficult passages, which are caused through abrupt changes in tempo or mood, are flawlessly done.

Conclusion:

I guess it’s a gap in education to not have heard their first two releases, as Fieber is offering six incredibly well done and varied tracks, that have the potential to entertain you for quite a while! The quite strange, shriek and varied vocals are the centerpiece of the music but the abrupt changes in mood, tempo or dynamics are quite interesting as well. Animo Aeger are offering a quite own interpretation of black metal that is worth to be heard!
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Written for http://threnodies.com