Review Summary: Straight from the mystical sands of Canada.
Heir of the Rising Sun is a melodic death metal album with symphonic synergy. Aeternam have broadened the scope of their cinematic spectrum a large chunk, and the bombastic cheese this time around the Egyptian sun is more in keeping with the tone of their Middle Eastern style. They are a little more convincing as Ra worshippers, even if they’re Canadian nerds. Thanks to the prolific symphony music the album sounds more like the PrinceofEgyptcore they always were, just with more love for the symphonic portion. One things for sure, this album won’t change anyone’s mind about Aeternam.
Heir of the Rising Sun is completely dripping with symphonic segments, so much so that the heavy metal often takes a backside. It’s hard to get into the metal when half the album is stuff your Indian grandma would listen to on a camel ride on her way to find the Holy grail. This brings us to my main contentious point: Aeternam are still corny as Hell and not as brutal as they could be. There’s moments of blastbeats and more hair raising sections but aside from that the album is filled with riffs practically stolen from Myrath albums. When it works it works, but I don’t want to trudge through a movie soundtrack on the way to get to the metal - I just want my metal - and I want it to shred my face off.
Clearly not all is well among the pyramids, yet this is all prototypical of Aeternam. Despite my obvious complaints, the band play their style of music well. It’s well produced and generally catchy when the riffs go at it, with predictably punchy growls and a solid singer. I still feel like this band could go a little heavier, but their Indian music loving is just enough to keep this band interesting enough. I just wonder how many times Aeternam can make the same album before the formula grows old. We’re not quite there, yet my dread persists.
