French acts have a tendency to test the boundaries of extreme metal on a regular basis as this band from Paris go for a more traditional symphonic black metal approach with the odd twist here and there. Three albums in nine years is hardly prolific and admittedly I’ve never heard of the band until now with their third album and according to the biography a few changes have been made such as ditching the female vocals for some reason. I suspect the band has gone for a rebranding with the objective of trying something new but retaining their black metal template and ethos though looking at them you’d think they’d play some form of post rock or groove metal. Glancing through the CD booklet you get the impression that Aevlord are setting their sights very high indeed with the instrument list for each guy being detailed to the extent of arrogance which is fine if its executed well enough, which for the most part it is.
The rather pretentious opening of “Wandering” leads into a more traditional melodic black riff which has a progressive stance and accompanying snarled vocals. The backing choir effect works well and isn’t overdone. Bands of this ilk always love to tangentially shift their tempos from one to another and Aevlord are no different as my first reference point is early Dimmu Borgir and I mean early, not the grandiose pomposity they release nowadays. A good start so far which continues with “The Marvellous Gems” and here a more typical blast start is heard which is more fuzzy than fury but implemented well. As the song progresses the song seems to produce a bass line which is a little strange as no bassist is mentioned, nor does it state that one of the guys is playing it so I suspect either they omitted this fact or did the bass on keyboards possibly. Nevertheless the bass like break is very good and joined by a good rhythm piece that reminded me of Crematory. There is a ton of piano too which sit snugly within each song and give each song that atmosphere of finesse and emotion.
Having said all this Aevlord are not a ground breaking band, far from it, but at least their song writing showcases their ability to create flow and texture extremely nicely and very melodic. Even the addition of acoustic guitar pieces is welcomed without being too arrogant or watery. There is also a theatrical edge to “Lost In Despair” as a multi-instrument approach is revealed but still within symphonic black metal. Occasionally in this genre the synth overloads the guitar work and at times there is a danger of that but at least there is a realisation that adding too much turns extreme metallers off so tunes like “Purple Haze” have a soft punch with undercarriage of spiky ferocity. “Soldier’s Willpower” is more aggressive and has a damn fine opening riff that wouldn’t be too far away from Amon Amarth, apart from the inclusion of keyboards of course. The double kick adds massive substance to the song as well as the ideas seem to span multi-genres with a symphonic backdrop. Closing the album, as ever, is a longer song which sets out a more melodic and ambitious approach with acoustic guitar interlaced with the leads and low vocals. Plenty of variety is offered here with alternating vocal styles and dense drum work.
I quite enjoyed this album, though purist black metallers will scoff at it being called black metal in the first place due to the symphonics, but nevertheless this is a well written album that is worth checking out.
(7.5/10 Martin Harris)
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