I never thought Norwegian top-act Aeternus would ever record some new stuff for frontman Ronny ‘Ares’ Hovland is involved with several other bands (mainly as live or session musician), but never start desponding, that’s the evil message!
Ares g, v, b) did record this newest full length, which lasts for more than fifty minutes, with Gravdal-colleagues Phobos (d) and Specter (g) (Ares used to be part of that band as well). And for those who don’t have the 1995-EP Dark Sorcery: the first edition of this new album comes with that mini-recording as bonus!
…And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth stands miles away from any effort from the past. The record has nothing to do with Black Metal anymore (except for the obscure and grim atmosphere, of course), but it brings an extremely energetic form of warlike Death Metal. But it has clearly done by very experienced members, and written by someone who knows how the sonic interpretation of darkness must sound like.
The opener There Will Be None, for example, is a great example. Talking about variation… The song consists of many different tempos and structures, interspersed with solos, atmospheric passages, blasting eruptions and epic majesty. Such a great introduction, this can’t go wrong.
And that’s how the album continues. Most tracks bring technical yet melodic Death Metal of the darkest and most extreme kind, with injections from Old School Doom-Death, Tech-Blast, Black and Thrash Metal; even some acoustics pass the revue. Sometimes it’s rhythmic and straight-forward, then again melodic, epic or atmospheric, modern or Old School, European or American. And it really is remarkable how easy it seems for Ares and his gang to combine all those different elements into such monolithic and barbaric creations of deadly power. It’s something like Nile meet Decapitated meet Morbid Angel meet Behemoth meet The Monolith Deathcult. But then again, with a very own-faced approach, an attitude that breathes profound pride, professional craftsmanship and joy-to-play.
I think …And The Seventh His Soul Detesteth is the best thing Aeternus did in more than a decade (and even though I am a Black-fan at first, I may add that this album could be the best thing they ever did???)!