Here at Zware Metalen, in our Dutch reviews, we consciously choose to use the Dutch language as correctly as possible. No cool or hip vocabulary or words from other languages, but using our good old traditional dictionary. I really love this, and even more: I am a fan of older, dare I say, old school expressions, and even archaic wordings are often very charming to me. We do, however, publish a number of reviews in English as well and for this one, new EP From The Shadows by Aeonian Sorrow, I felt I have to resort to a more basic form of expression, such as: WHAT THE FUCK is this!
The EP is not entirely new, having been released on the last day of March. Although, EP…? “Only” four songs, you might be thinking, but they do give us more than half an hour of wonderful doom. Because the review of the previous album Katara of this Greek-Finnish collective had been stolen from under my nose by colleague Joost (no hard feelings, as his review was great and gave the album a great score as well), I had expected that a review of this EP would have been written on our beloved heaviest of websites by now. Well, this does not seem to be the case, so allow me to alleviate this situation.
But why oh why that foul-mouthed expression in the intro and even in – god help us – full-on capital letters? Because Aeonian Sorrow has brought opening track Harbinger Of Ruin into our world. Without a doubt the track of the year for me and some pretty crazy shit will have to happen before another track will take its place. What a banger. What a beast. Such incredible emotions. It grabs me so hard that it is actually hard to put into words.
I have been a fan of this band from their beginnings and I really love the signature sound that singer Gogo Melone and her band members put into their emotional blend of doom metal. And from the very first seconds, I am again taken away by the couple of mysterious, semi-whispered Greek words at the start of the first song, followed by a melancholic soundtrack part reminding me of the dramatic moments in a movie like Troy. Beautiful.
After about a minute the moment of moments has come: a drum fill and the following, totally unexpected, emotional uppercut of blast beat black metal knocks me head over feet off my socks. Blast beats that are thundering under heavy, almost symphonic music, filled with heartache, rendered even stronger by the intense, emotional screams of Joel Notkonen. After the initial fury calmness follows, with a soothing serenity that strongly contrasts – but at the same time logically continues – the track. Gogo sings with that typical voice of hers that can sound wonderfully soft and soothing, caring in the most beautiful and purest sense of the word, and in a lower register than is mostly the case in this genre. A short build-up bridges the tension to a second blast beat part that gives me goosebumps every single time. This time it transforms to a more chugging kind of doom with heavier grunts, and the headbanger in me becomes very happy indeed. The tempo drops again and Gogo takes you, while the intensity decreases without letting off the tension, by the hand towards the closing chapter of this monumental colossus of musical emotion: about two minutes before the end the song bursts open once more with a double bass drum that drives the speed somewhat faster than mid-tempo, firing on the music you simply want to scream along with. An apotheosis a bit similar to Draconian’s Dishearten, but deeper, darker. The moment that Gogo adds her passionate, intense voice, all those emotions, of which you know that they are fighting each other deep down inside, wrestle themselves outwards. No sad, contemplative introspection: the feelings seem to be streaming out so that you could almost take them on physically.
On Katara, Aeonian Sorrow already was heading towards a sound with a more diverse colour palette. This EP goes further down this road. It’s quite the understatement that I am curious what the next full-length will bring… The music on display here is truly of an exceptional level and I can only hope that fans of this genre (doom metal and closely related siblings, referring to all kinds of heavy and melancholic music) will start to reckon Aeonian Sorrow among the list of the Greats. The songs may not always be as catchy as the music of bands like Draconian or Swallow The Sun, but oh my, this music touches the soul and stirs the emotions. Authentic, personal, intimate, unique, overwhelming. Too bad that From The Shadows is released as an EP and we do not score EP’s on Zware Metalen … The score would definitely be situated well above 90 points.
Whenever Aeonian Sorrow performs in my small country, I always go the gig, and I CANNOT WAIT to experience Harbinger Of Ruin live. I am sure that will really be something. I don’t do this that often any more, but I am going to study those lyrics and learn them by heart, and scream/grunt along and let myself go like a madman. In advance I am offering my sincerest apologies to the attendees that prefer a calmer concert experience.
Label:
Own management, 2025
Tracklisting:
- Harbinger Of Ruin
- Whispers In The Dark
- Your Blackened Forest
- Mist Of Oblivion
Line-up:
- Joel Notkonen – Vocals
- Gogo Melone – Vocals, keyboards
- Taneli Jämsä – Guitar
- Jukka Jauhiainen – Guitar
- Achilleas Papagrigoriou – Drums
- Jani Berney Mikkänen – Bass guitar (session)
Links: