Rating: 9.0

Country: Sweden

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Metal Blade

Track list:
1. Helel Ben-Shachar
2. Spreading Their Disease
3. Living Sin
4. Hate Them
5. You Pray to Nothing
6. Caressed by the Holy Man
7. House of Greed
8. Godless
9. When the War Comes
10. There Will Be No Heaven for Me
11. Luke 4-5-7
12. No One Escapes Us

Total playing time 45.08

Band Website: Aeon

Aeon - Rise To Dominate

Tommy Dahlstrom - Vocals
Daniel Dlimi - Guitar
Zeb Nilsson - Guitar
Max Carlberg - Bass

After a brief hiatus and a few lineup changes, Aeon are back with a new record entitled Rise To Dominate. And Aeon have indeed "risen", as they've stepped up their game in a big way since their Unique Leader debut Bleeding The False. If this record is any portent of things to come, they'll soon be dominating Deathmetal listeners' regular playlists. 

Their delivery is less mechanized, and their compositions are a little more stripped down. They've also filled out the thin, skeletal sound that plagued the first record with full, rumbling distorted low frequencies and an arguably restrained Nils Fjellstrom with a more natural tone this time around. Aeon finally got my attention and I can now, more than ever, take them seriously as a legitimate force within the crowded Deathmetal hordes. Even as a rabid fan of Defaced Creation, Sanctification, and Infestdead, and all other forms of Florida- inspired Deicide plagiarism, I had a hard time digesting an Aeon album. Although good in it's own right, I think I might have enjoyed Dark Order a great deal more if it were released under the Defaced Creation moniker, as it mostly sounded like leftovers from Serenity In Chaos sessions anyway.

There's no shortage of blasting and blaspheming on this record, so I apologize if I have led you to believe anything even remotely close to that thus far. This is still an Aeon record. Most of the reasons most of you liked Bleeding The False are present here, but virtually none of the flaws exist on this slab. Yes, their lyrics still focus primarily on the denouncement of jesus, god, and his followers the world over. This seems to be the biggest gripe people have with Aeon. Not everyone is so gifted as Ross Dolan of Immolation to pen truly thought- provoking lyrics with the same focal points as Aeon's lyrics, which some have been so kind as to call "elementary drivel". I enjoy their lyrics, as I enjoy the way they are violently spewed in rapid succession by frontman Tommy Dahlstrom. Zeb Nilsson and Daniel Dlimi have toned their trademark stifling harmonic-laden fretwork down, instead opting to allow the songs develop upon a simple framework of methodical and deliberate palm-muted riffery. On some songs such as "Pray To Nothing" and "There Will Be No Heaven For Me", the pair recreate in their own image Morbid Angel's finer moments on the Blessed Are The Sick and Domination LPs. Guitar solos have a purpose for these two now, and they have clearly learned that random notes carelessly injected into almost every passage benefits neither the album or the poor listener trying to make sense of it. The leads do not appear often, about once on every other track, but when they do... They're monstrous and perfectly phrased, and possess the ability to simultaneously own both the song and the unsuspecting listener's attention. Case in point would have to be my two favorites from the entire album, namely "Living Sin" and "Godless". The leads literally make these songs what they are. Many, many bands should take a few pages from Aeon's playbook. If I had any complaint at all, it would be that one or two songs suffer as a result of the remaining ten being so damned brilliant. I don't believe any of it was intended to be filler. They do manage to keep it interesting for the 45 minute duration.

All things considered, Aeon's performance on this, their third release, is by far their best. The songs are stronger, the mix by Dan Swano is their best yet, and 2008 will see Aeon finally arriving in the upper echelon of their respective brand. This record is both oppressive and addictive, and it's very likely to see my top ten of '07.

(I'm so far behind on reviews that I'm actually still writing a "Top 10 of '07" list)

February 14th, 2007