This 12 song second album by the American trio is an immense death metal offering filled with intricate melodies that just accentuate the power of the overall delivery. Formed a mere 5 years ago, they started work on this album shortly after the release of their début in 2020 and the polished songs are a testament to this. The instrumental intro and outro feature guest cellist Kakophonix, who also collaborated on their first release.
The acoustic guitar and cello on “Exordium” lull you into an all too brief sense of languid security before “War Vessel” completely rips the lid off as bassist Paul Fuzinski’s low guttural vocal roars let you know they style of music you are really going to be listening to here.
“Nocturneous” is even faster as drummer Jayson Cessna lays down some blistering rolls while his impeccable footwork thumps you in the chest as Derik Smith provides both ultra melodic guitar harmonies and brutal death metal riffs with abject east.
In a similar vein “Skybreaker” also include some superb lead breaks that are played at ultra-high speed.
Feeling positively laconic at first, “Gemini” explodes into drawn out roars over quick triplets while the drum tempo manages to maintain a slower feel, all the while making the guitars sound even faster.
Owing to the fact I’m not a huge fan, I would never have known that “December Flower” was an In Flames cover, but now that I do, I can tell you that their version is so much heavier with deeper vocals which makes the leads also appear all the more melodious in contrast.
Another instrumental in the form of “Promethean Fire” is exquisitely in its composition with the guitars and drums seemingly following their own tempos but overlapping sufficiently to demonstrate the ember from which they are working.
While there are moments of minimum during “Star of Extinction”, for the most part it is quick and heavy with deep growls that the lead solos flair through before fading into a near acoustic reprieve then back.
There are moments in “Paradigm Shift” where you might think they are a power metal band with the soaring leads and fast drumming, which is reined in to give way to heaviness rather than speed, but never truly slowing down all that much.
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the JWST’s images of “The Pillars of Creation” which are as impressive as this song with all the extra notes being perfectly audible no matter how chaotic it may feel at times with the sheer quantity of what is being played.
The penultimate song is the 9-minute title track “Across the Aeons”, where the slow vocal roar has the undercurrent of a melodic lead accompanying the intense rhythm guitar and ferocious drums, but it’s the avant-garde bridge that is truly beautiful as the rolling guitars spill back into the original riffing juxtaposing the brutality as it pulls back then throws itself in once more.
The album ends with “Cadence of Sorrow” as the acoustic guitar and cello tug at (heart)strings to finish with an emotive flourish.
This album is a perfect blend of melody and violence, much like creation and the cosmos itself.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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