Review : AEON – “Path of Fire”

Aeon – Path of Fire
released May 25, 2010 on Metal Blade Records

Rating: 3/5

Listening to blasphemous death metal is an awful lot like having sex with an 18-year old guy: fast, unrelenting, and the wad is usually blown before ten minutes are up. You cannot really fault the performance, but after a once-around you know what to expect, and have little reason to revisit besides simplistic satisfaction.

Fresh from their tour with Hate Eternal, they hooked up with that band’s mainman, Erik Rutan, to record their third album, Path of Fire. While I like the sound of the guitars themselves, I was disappointed to hear them take a backseat to the vocals, time and again. Tommy Dahlstöm does spit some vile bile, but I was not moved to the point of fist-raising and lyrical recitation. Then again, most that listen will probably be more concerned with Aeon‘s thick, overpowering execution.

Perhaps due to contrivance, music like this is hard to take seriously. The goofy laughs before the ending lurch of “Kill Them All” or the awkward keyboard outro to “God of War” do less to create genuine interest, but rather induce head shakes and chuckles. They could still add these effects sparingly, as the choral chants within “Of Fire” complement the song well, but one must tread carefully. Aeon is a bit more successful generating mystery with the midalbum instrumental, “Total Kristus Inversus” (which sounds like a Nile refugee), but by this point you will have likely lost interest.

For those that desire brutal, mid-paced death metal that directly opposes Christianity (and wear that fact like a badge), this will sate your appetite. Sure, you have heard this before, but give those Deicide albums a rest once in a while and let another band in on the devastation.

FCC: 4, 6, 7, 9, 10
Try 1, 3

01. Forgiveness Denied
02. Kill Them All
03. Inheritance
04. Abomination To God
05. Total Kristus Inversus
06. Of Fire
07. I Will Burn
08. Suffer The Soul
09. The Sacrament
10. Liar In The Name Of God
11. God Of War