Style: Metalcore (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Dylan
Country: UK (Isle of Man)
Release date: 10 September, 2021
NOTE: The album was originally included in the “Albums We Missed in 2021” Issue of The Progressive Subway
Aeons is a returning band for us here, as their debut album A Tragic End was reviewed back in 2020 by me. While I remember having very few negatives to say about it, it sadly became part of a large list of albums I reviewed that while good… never really became a part of my rotation after I finished writing about said release. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that it was overrated by my standards, it does say something about how I had seemingly no interest to revisit thanks to its lack of freshness.
Their follow-up is hardly the Consequences of my review, as it seems that they’ve gone and put out an album that is quite similar to their debut, only with a downgrade in its virtues and a pronunciation in its defects. What once was an original blend of prog death/metalcore with some genre tropes done competently has become a shallow blend of prog death/metalcore with genre tropes well implemented.
Allow me to explain; this release can be separated into 3 types of songs. The straight core-prog song with verse/chorus/verse that comes with a harsh/clean/harsh structure to complement it, the Opeth-core fusion songs that offer a bit more depth in their songwriting with longer clean sections, and yet another Opeth influenced style that’s pretty much just ripping them off. The straight core-prog songs are serviceable mostly carried out by their catchy choruses to keep you distracted from somewhat generic verses. As far as the Opeth side of things goes, the rip-off is surprisingly the best song on the album. While I wouldn’t quite call it a 1 to 1 bastardization of them, it’s undeniable that “Blight” shares many aspects of “Death Whispered a Lullaby” from Damnation, yet it seems to build upon the fantastic song that it is, instead of half-assing a copy. I actually ended up liking the rip off more than the original, thanks to the better execution in its chorus.
Unfortunately, most of the album doesn’t rely on Damnation worship but rather traditional Opeth worship with a slice of metalcore. This recipe unfortunately falls in the serviceable but underwhelming category, with nothing to point as a significant flaw yet on the other hand very little to discuss positively. The instrumentation awkwardly tries to come up with a lot of riffs that aren’t too impressive (also present in the shorter tracks but at least avoidable in the choruses), the vocals are impressive but not enough to carry out the lengthy songs, the drumming is serviceable but will never blow your mind… It’s amazingly middle of the road. Unfortunately, thanks to the nature of their structure, these songs are also what carry out a large portion of the album, effectively pronouncing their flaws to the point of degrading the good/great stuff that comes in between them.
So essentially, the traditional Opeth worship became worse, the trope-y songs got slightly better, and we got a pretty great Damnation-esque song. I can’t in good faith recommend Consequences as a complete piece, but can’t also write it off in its entirety thanks to some pretty enjoyable tracks that unfortunately made up the minority of the album. Take my recommended songs and go!
Recommended tracks: Blight, Rubicon
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Periphery, Born of Osiris, BEAR
You May Also Like: Arjuna’s Eye
Final Verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Aeons is:
– Skippy Hilton (vocals)
– Joe Holland (bass)
– Justin Wallace (drums)
– Scott Sayer (guitar)
– Si Harvey (guitar, vocals)
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