Aetherian - At Storm’s Edge

Angry Metal Guy 80

That is one hell of a cover. This was the first thought I had when I picked At Storm’s Edge out of the promo bin. The artwork is incredibly crowded, hard to read, and the composition makes little sense in several places. But it’s ambitious and certainly draws the eye. My interest thus piqued, I expected a young band with big ideas, and as it turns out, that’s mostly correct. Aetherian is young in the sense that this is but their second album, but they’ve been at it for almost a decade now. It has taken the band 6 years to craft a follow-up to their debut. Has the time investment paid off, or is there a sophomore slump after all?

No slump here: At Storm’s Edge is a killer! Aetherian takes the best parts of Amorphis and Be’lakor and smashes them together into a graceful, fluid beast of melodic grandeur. The composition is immaculate; each track has a different personality, a different arc. “Army of Gaia” builds upon a grand, strident hook with furious, drum-led assaults, playing with the main riff in various ways. The more straightforward “Πυρ Αεναον” impresses just the same with a whirlwind chorus that demands every voice join in the choir of shouting Greek warriors. “Astral Breath” somehow marries furious tremolo assaults with an Amon Amarth-like mid-paced hook and makes it work, and a beautifully melancholic turn comes with the fittingly titled “Soulriver,” one of the few tracks to feature significant cleans in the chorus, even if they’re of a choral variety.

At Storm’s Edge by Aetherian

The brilliant riffs and hooks make At Storm’s Edge immediately enjoyable. What makes it stick is intelligent songwriting. “Army of Gaia” seems to end early, building up to a satisfying climax, but picks back up after for an ominous denouement that deconstructs the track’s earlier hooks. The title track kicks off with a rapid-picked melody that gets fluidly incorporated into the ensuing onslaught. So refined are the transitions that every song can take you through three or four movements before returning to an earlier riff and yet the music never feels unfocused or wandering, even as the range of moods can be as wide as the sky. It creates the sensation that aside from the intro, the tracklist contains 7 miniature albums, 7 fiercely purified compositions with not an ounce of fat between them.

While mediocre compositions played well are all too common, great compositions played poorly are much rarer, and thankfully Aetherian does not join that unfortunate cohort. The standout performances are the guitars and the drums. The former are the album’s crowning star, spewing riff after addictive riff, making the most of the dual setup (take note of the very precise interplay halfway into “Starlit Shores”), and setting the climax with a few soaring solos. They manage to not only be technical but to encapsulate emotion into their performance as well, a rare and underappreciated feat. If the guitars are the face of the album, though, the drums are its beating heart, and they are played with precision and indomitable energy. The vocals are a bit less dynamic, consisting mostly of a simple but effective growl, and among everything else, the bass does get snowed under a bit. This is somewhat due to the production, which is the only big demerit I can levy. It’s too loud by far, and it doesn’t do the music justice. Those excellent drums would sound a lot better with an improved master, too, and it’s a shame the band fell to the loudness war.

But the music is just too good for the production to bump it into score safety standards. Aetherian doesn’t necessarily do anything very original, but they are a shining example of why originality is not the sole factor of quality. Every track is a journey, an experience with perfect arcs and endless hooks, great performances, and peerless songwriting, together elevating At Storm’s Edge from ordinarily good to something truly special.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Lifeforce Records
Websites: aetherianband.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/aetherianband
Releases Worldwide: July 14th, 2023

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