Released Via Candlelight Records
Genre: Black Metal
Track Listing:
1. Nomicon
2. Overwrite The Archetype
3. Unholy Ungodly
4. Psalm Of The Deciever
5. Devouring The Forsaken
6. Contorted Utopia
7. Aethereum
8. Waking Death
Founded in Liverpool over a decade ago, Ethereal have slowly but surely refined their black metal sound through two prior EP’s and a rigorous touring schedule, including support slots for bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse and Gorgoroth. ‘Opus Aethereum’ is the band’s first full-length, and it’s an intriguing beast that shows Ethereal’s worth more with each listen. The sound itself is equal parts traditional and modern, due to the steady supply of accessible hooks, musical dynamics and the symphonic bombast. There are shades of death metal to be found within the in-your-face instrumental attack, but at its heart this is grandiose black metal with no pretence. From song to song this record maintains a relentless drive that is attributable to the concise execution of each track as much as songs themselves being very well written. The production of the album matches this band completely, as each and every element of sound is remorselessly aimed straight at the listener’s temple. Ethereal have managed to avoid the pratfall that suckers in many other new black metal bands; they don’t come across like a shameless throwback to the Scandinavian scene of yore. Instead, Ethereal already sound very much like their own entity. You can practically feel the years of effort and pure determination bursting from the speakers like a caged beast, and that kind of urgency and fury is exactly what a band like this should possess, and what could see Ethereal climbing higher in the scene.
Rating: 9/10
Links: https://www.facebook.com/EtherealDarknessUK?fref=ts
http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk/
https://www.reverbnation.com/etherealblackmetal
No comments:
Post a Comment