AETURNA - Self-Titled

The first track, A Mirror Darkly, was, as is to be expected from an old-school death doom band, moody and atmospheric. What was striking however is that this track was not afraid to build complex melodies – a pattern we will see throughout this album. The bass was beautifully deep and rumbly and the growled vocals created a stark contrast to the slower melody. Like a blanket of grey overcast skies, the song soon whisked me away to a cold graveyard amongst ruined stone.

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By the second track (The Last Funeral) it had become apparent that this album is designed to be listened to in its totality from start to finish. The atmosphere demands it with its slow build and intricately woven patterns. Clearly, The Last Funeral is not a song that was thrown together haphazardly, but was carefully constructed. The subtle reverb on the vocals creates the faintest of echo-effects. This might make the vocals a somewhat divisive element - some may love it, others may need to warm up to it, but one cannot deny that it certainly adds to the dark and foggy vibe.

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Next up is the third track, Altars of Ash. It was in this track that I noticed just how sorrowful and pensive the guitar tones are. They have an almost apprehensive aspect to them which suits the album’s grim and foreboding atmosphere very nicely. The riffs are slow, purposeful, and they manage to grab hold of your chest, like a vice of sonorous resonance and low-end artistry. Creative drum rhythms fill out an already dense sound and indeed, the drums actually blindsided me in this track – for just a moment they shift to an almost pop-like structure before crashing down into a blunt tempo change. It caught me completely off guard and was surprisingly effective. For reasons like this, I think many listeners will appreciate that these tracks are paced and structured in such a way that one is able to dissect each instrument. Bass, drums, vocals, guitar – all play a distinctive role and each is given room to breathe within the larger sound. For this reason, I actually recommend this album to any prog heads out there. Despite it being far removed from prog, the richness of the instrumentation is nothing to sleep on.

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The rest of the tracks you’ll have to discover for yourself, and I strongly recommend that you do. Aeturna have proven themselves to be very capable of writing and playing old school death doom metal. If you suddenly feel a strong urge to be mentally transported to decrepit lonely wastelands and ruined altars of old, I know just the album for you and it’s Aeturna’s album “Aeturna”. Check it out! 

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SCORE 8.5/10

Reviewed by Alexandra Desailly

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