Review Summary: Modern death odyssey.
Every year there seems to be that one, defining death metal release. Ad Nauseam’s
Imperative Imperceptible Impulse, Ulcerate’s
Stare Into Death and Be Still, Blood Incantation’s
Hidden History of the Human Race or even Slugdge’s
Esoteric Malacology perhaps? Do I really need to go on? This year, death metal is set to stand behind Aeviterne’s
The Ailing Facade and I’m more than okay with that. That’s because
The Ailing Facade is
that album. The year’s death metal champion. 2022’s primo dissodeath selection. The genre’s Russel Crowe to Joaquin Phoenix…whilst standing in a packed colosseum. With a prestige in name mostly built from Garett Bussanick’s New York based, Flourishing, Aeviterne is likely to turn heads wherever their music is played and for the best of reasons.
The Ailing Facade is exceptional. That is to say that it is excellent, and a mandatory listen for death metal fans everywhere.
Naturally,
The Ailing Facade will draw comparisons to that Flourishing act mentioned above. It makes sense, but Aeviterne is made up of a host of big names—a supergroup made from the likes of Castevet, Gath *mānê, Luminous Vault, and Artificial Brain. Still, I’m not just here to name drops and drop names. We should probably get to the meat and bones of what
The Ailing Facade as a debut full-length has to offer the extreme metal community circa 2022. Still not impressed? That’s a pity. You’re knitting must be missing the click-click of your arthritic, bony fingers. Nevertheless, the show must go on.
What
The Ailing Facade is however, is a masterclass. Of riffs, dissonance, of atmosphere—Aeviterne is nothing short of proficient. One quick hit of the album’s opener, “Denature” is enough to ensure that the naysayers will be kept quiet. “Denature'' is death metal delirium. Insatiable grooves break ground at the very bedrock of death metal and yet the band leans heavily into bringing groove into the mix. It’s not about justifying “this is how heavy we are!”, nor is it an effort based around being the fastest act this side of the equator. Instead, “Denature' (and many of the tracks to follow) progress in waves of discordant riffs, dissonant, ear-bending atmospheres and technically abound musical progressions. It took one track, on a debut album to show Aeviterne are comfortable at the top of the heap. With that in mind, it’s lunacy that
The Ailing Facade would already be on its way to achieving a top album of the year status—but here we are. “Stilled the Hollows' Sway” is ferocious, blistering and abundant in sprawling passages but it’s the percussive bump and thwack of the track’s main beat that propels the song. What sets
The Ailing Facade is the injection of the occult; the introspective doom filled voyages that help define the pieces to which they belong. Take the back half of “Stilled the Hollows' Sway” for example. Not only does the track saunter with the usual death metal dissonant heft of the genre’s expectations, its latter half really stretches out a deeper meaning, becoming somewhat minimalistic in the face of ongoing depth. Bussanick’s vocals rasp over the top, building on that ominous atmosphere and yet, there’s still a range of expressive, experimental depth from which Aeviterne can build from.
The Ailing Facade shows all the early indicators of an abundant record. But it’s the mood itself which
defines this record’s titanic swing through the more expressive niches of death metal. More centrally, “The Reeking Suns” and “The Gaunt Sky” continue to impress. From the ambient break that cleaves “The Reeking Suns” in two, allowing the listener time to breathe, reflect and pause on the monolithic bearings they’ve been left with. Where “The Gaunt Sky” dabbles in death metal crescendos, rising and and falling well in tune with what’s to come. The track’s tendency to pull apart death metal’s seams offer new ground. Moments of dissonant lead post metal-ism breach walls of titanic doom atmosphere—when combined with the atonal, insistent thrum of the blasting death percussion these tracks become more industrious, darker, and ultimately, define just why we should be championing releases like this. There’s also something to be said about the album’s mixing. While I would love to itemise each and every aspect of the album’s production values I should probably keep this relatively brief. It takes just about no level of research to find that local whizz-kid (read: prolific mixing veteran), Colin Marston is responsible. It’s probably why the drums have such a measured tone, adding to the dystopian atmosphere crafted almost everywhere else on the record.
The album’s title track is bound to be a new favourite amongst Flourishing fans. Its atmosphere rivals
The Sum of All Fossils, surpassing that particular album with a better grip on production, pacing and at times, restraint. Dissonance runs next to and occasionally interferes with the harmony of the song. Synths are cut by winding solos, almost jazz-like bass segues and a culmination of instrumental chops this debut album has shown so far. Ian Jacyszyn’s drum chops are straight-up amazing. “Dream In Lies” helps close the record in a cleaner setting than it began. Despite being the longest track on the record, this closer feels succinct, its musical phrasings allows respite for the listener, a breath of air under the weight of such monolithic compositions. As far as 2022 is concerned, we need not look any further for a death metal champion. Adding that,
The Ailing Facade is a debut album (removing the whole Flourishing-angle reboot) which makes this all the more impressive. As a whole, Aeviterne’s debut is expressive, clinical and excellent in quality.
