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With almost 3 years
of existence and only one demo in
their arsenal, this Swedish quintet
has found shelter under Black Lotus
Records and started the preparation
for the world domination. Honestly
speaking, I wouldn't say that before,
since I was unaware of their existence,
but after listening to "Dispiritism"
I'm convinced that this was their
plan in the first place. They just
needed to take care of some details,
like the change of their name from
Thrawn to Altered Aeon, and they were
ready to unleash their blistering
rage.
They put their plan
into effect in November 2004 and as
I foretold this release really took
me by surprise. To be perfectly accurate,
"Dispiritism" doesn't deliver
only pure brutality. I like to think
of it as the European answer to Nevermore,
in a more, thrashy, brutal and I could
say technical way. However, don't
get the wrong impression here. Alter
Aeon isn't another Nevermore clone.
The band has formed its own unique
identity, but as far as I can tell
Nevermore surely influenced their
writing and this is what comes to
mind by a first "epidermal"
approach. But a more careful listening
reveals more than this. "Dispiritism"
is a head-blowing technical thrash
/death metal offering, mostly characterized
by an almost constant up-tempo rhythm,
razor-sharp riffing, supported by
technical, or if you like complex,
lead guitar intrusions, mind-piercing,
disturbed from time to time solos
and a driving, machine-gun like, rhythm
section. The vocals vary from clean
to brutal and despite the fact of
being a late trend, it definitely
labels the whole project. Production-wise,
Altered Aeon assigned Jonas Kjellgren
from Carnal Forge and the upshot couldn't
be different than top-notch and representative
for the genre. The copy I have in
my hands includes 2 bonus tracks,
the instrumental "Cellular Disorganization"
which is one of the few, if not the
only one, mid-tempo melodic tracks
and a cover on King Diamond's "Welcome
Home".
This technical thrash/
death genre is definitely my cup of
tea and although I keep an eye on
the genre, I was late in my appointment
with Altered Aeon for almost 4 months.
Don't make the same mistake. Nevertheless,
I predict that their future will be
bright, so sooner or later you will
all fall into their clutches. Better
to do it willingly though, since these
guys take no prisoners. |
