Aesthetic Death

The multiverse of Aesthetic Death has no boundaries whatsoever. Except for some ABBA-compilation or a tribute to George Michael, I guess this label sort of investigates all angles within the sonic spectrum. I firstly wanted to mention ‘within the musical spectrum’, yet as from this specific release on… I’ll come back to this album immediately. The label houses bands and projects in many aural areas, especially Metal-oriented (Doom, Black, Funeral Doom, Sludge) and within spheres of Dark Ambient, Power Electronics, Esoteric Drone and Ritual.

In a very near future, Aesthetic Death and Megalith Levitation will officially release the new album Obscure Fire (of course you might expect a review on that recording in some future), but this review will deal with the former full-length, Void Psalms, which was (and still is, of course) the second full-album by Russia’s Megalith Levitation. It was actually released almost a year and a half ago, but then again: so what? Great material will always deserve (my) attention and promotion.

[despite being released almost three years ago, yet because of its ingenious character…]

The term ‘yaldabaoth’ refers to a false deity, or a demiurge, imagined as a serpent-shaped entity with a lion’s head, who captures spirits within physical bodies. It’s a gnostic terminology that focuses on man’s faith and salvation, searching for the balance in between knowledge and self-betrayal. I can go on about this matter, but I’d like to focus on a release by a project with the very same moniker and their album That Which Whets The Saccharine Palate.

[review for ‘an older’ release, but once again: so what?! It is never too late to focus on intriguing Aural Art, even after a couple of years after an actual release date]

I did express my adoration for Aesthetic Death - and the sympathetic guy behind this label - a hundred times before. I won’t go too deep into this English label’s fabulous existence this time. But here’s a review on another excellently chosen release, being a split in between two semi-Arctic entities. And I admit that this deals (once again) with an older release, but then again: so what?! Indeed (grim-looking smiley included)…

In all honesty, I have seen this duo growing and growing throughout their time at the Aesthetic Death offices. I did not dislike Nightmare Painting at all, but I did ‘miss’ something essential. With Hallucinations, I enjoyed the important step forward enormously. But as from the last album, Decadent Luminosity, I was convinced about the impact Haiku Funeral have on my open-minded state-of-mind (for what it’s worth).

I am not sure whether I can call Funeral Chasm a side-project of Above Ravens, but this new entity was formed in early 2020 by two members of this fine yet truly underestimated Pagan act from Danish soil. String-virtuoso Morten ‘Sjaelepest’ Lund and Danny ‘Woe’ Jönsson (voices and lyrics, drums and percussion, synths and piano, programming / sampling, additional string-work) (also known from e.g.

I did deeply adore the former albums Inner Sanctum and Ectoplasm by Suffer Yourself, a project from Poland, no, Ukraine, or is it Sweden? No, seriously, Suffer Yourself was formed a decade ago by Stanislav ‘Hardman’ Govorukha, originating from the Polish side of the Carpathian mountains, but who moved over to Kyiv a while ago. At that time, he was the sole musician under this outfit’s moniker.

(another older release, once again deeply deserving any additional support, going for both the band as well as the label involved!!!)

Some might recognize the name of Ryan Scott Fairfield from his activities in Terrible Old Man / Toxic Cross, but he used to be the guy behind Hallowed Butchery as well. ‘used to be’? Well, no no no, for Hallowed Butchery apparently have not faded away yet into the one true reality, death. It took a decade or so, but this project resurrected from oblivion with a new pièce d’art sonorique, called Deathsongs (From The Hymnal Of The Church Of The Final Pilgrimage).