Second full-length and third overall release for the Greek-Finnish collaboration of Aeonian Sorrow, with a title inspired by the passage of Katara in Pindos Mountain, Greece. It was preceded by the debut album “Into The Eternity A Moment We Are” (2018) and the EP “A Life Without” (2020). “Katara” is, like the previous two, self-financed but the work here is remarkable and infinitely better than so many others released under the logo of a record label.
The band consists of founding members Gogo Melone (Elysia, ex-Luna Obscura) on vocals, keyboards, lyrics, composition and Taneli Jämsä (Red Moon Architect, Anima Hereticae) on guitars, as well as newer members Jukka Jauhiainen (Red Moon Architect) on guitars, Achilleas Papagrigoriou on drums and Joel Notkonen (Arctora, Ondfødt) on vocals. Their style of music is atmospheric doom/death metal and they continue the excellent work they did in their two previous releases.
And they achieve this with characteristic ease, since despite the long durations that their songs have, they don’t tire you since they don’t overload them with unnecessary parts just to stretch their duration. The magic is partly due to the apparent simplicity as well. Example? The fantastic opener “Anemos” has an incredible melancholy melody played by a few notes on the keyboards. Ostensibly it may be something simple, but it’s so powerfully emotional that it puts you in the band’s world from the first seconds.
Doom rhythms throughout that even drop to funeral levels (“Forbidden Cry”, “Ikuinen Suru”), beauty and the beast vocals (ethereal from Gogo, death growls from Joel), captivating melodies and atmosphere that won’t easily leave a fan of this genre unmoved. Also, for the first time we hear some Greek lyrics. In the aforementioned “Anemos”, in “Her Torment” but also in the excellent title track that starts like a lament and has also Finnish lyrics. They are so well placed and interpreted in a special way that they give a different dimension to the songs. I hope in the future we will listen to something similar from them.
Finally, the production of the former drummer of the band Saku Moilanen is once again flawless and gives the final result the sound identity that suits it. Aeonian Sorrow is an act that honors in the best way the so special genre of atmospheric doom/death metal. Those who like titans like Draconian or Swallow The Sun would be well advised to check them out immediately.
