Being a progressive metal band, and one which draws references to Opeth, Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya amongst others, it was my hope that the anticipated musical range could be brought together to make the sonic story a memorable experience. Actually that’s true of any band. Now on their third album release, Aeons have a reputation for skilful blending of sonic soundscapes.

It’s clear from listening to “Noose”, the opening track, that Aeons have nailed the art of progressive metal. Twisting and turning, metal outbursts combine with outright heaviness, acoustic moments, subtleties, growls and folksy clean vocals. Most importantly “Noose” hangs together as a song and has the epic qualities of … well, Opeth. I detected a touch of hardcore in the predominantly heavy and hammering “Home”. The clean chorus seemed out of sync with it but I did like the guitar work and the subtle addition of the synth. It’s a lot of ideas in a five-minute package, something which I was getting used to when listening to this album. Aeons don’t seem to be one of these bands which provides continuity but instead hangs on the strength of the individual songs. So following the deathly “Home” is the mellow “Blood” – I liked the emotive lead-in to the chorus but I have to say others of a more prog orientation are likely to find more meaning and inspiration than I did. It’s not a bad song though and I do appreciate the way that Aeons develop the structure of their songs. The band, which comprises five members, operate in unison.

From “Blood” we go to the guitar patterns of “Circles”. The rhythms are there to be savoured. I found myself absorbing the instrumental patterns more than the song itself which has the feel of a decent template prog metal track but not more. As we embark on the next adventure, the start of “Thanatos” has a mysterious air but this soon disappears as the song heads into the death-heavy world of “Home” before it. There is a wonderworld of a guitar solo, which nicely works into the overall framework and leads smoothly into an exciting passage before cutting back into a very prog-like reflective section. You certainly get your money’s worth here when it comes to musical styles and variations with this band. An acoustic song follows. It is a prelude to the nineteen-minute monster “Ghosts”. As usual the ingredients are in abundance – heavy death, metalcore chorus, mellow acoustic and above all expansive prog metal. The Opeth style aura is there – at one point it could be Opeth, such is the similarity. To Aeons’s great credit, the transitions do not affect the progress or flow. It’s a lot to take in but it’s an exciting journey and for the latter part an instrumental feast.. It’s all change again as Aeons treat us to the pumping prog / metalcore – progcore? – song “Machines”. It’s a cracking song, which is full of power and emotion. It’s especially powerful at the end as it breaks down. Finally, we have “Collapse”. The vocals now turn to death growls. Musically it flows very nicely while structurally the heavy sections alternate with lighter passages. It did however flow over me to an extent as not for the first time the sheer breadth of musical ideas caused me to lose contact with the song, appreciative as I was of the musicianship.

This album is a comprehensive work. “The Ghosts of What We Know” cannot be accused of lacking substance. The opposite applies in fact and here for me lay the problem. For me there was something missing. I tried to put my finger on it and come up with this: by laying everything on the line over nine distinct songs, I felt that the album lacked continuity of musical theme and detracted from the listening experience. It’s fine if you want to hear great musicianship and cleverly constructed structures. The skill of these five musicians is beyond any doubt, and we were never far from a major passage. This is a big album for sure.

(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://sliptrickrecords.bandcamp.com/album/aeons-the-ghosts-of-what-we-knew