AenaonFrom the progressive end of the impressive Greek black metal spectrum come Aenaon. This is their second album. With strong instrumentals and exaggerated swathes of darkness at the heart, “Extance” spends around an hour covering a lot of ground.

To start with, the bombastic and dark tones reminded me of my old friends Devilish Impressions. “Deathtrip Chronicle” has symphonic blackness and threatening sparks in the floaty chorus, but then from somewhere a jazz sax comes in. The song is driving, compelling, thumping in its beat and impressively constructed. Gnarly fast-paced black metal follows. “Grau Diva” is Norwegian in style. Big sounds mingle with flourishes, creating a progressive edge to this dark landscape. I haven’t heard the harmonica in a while but it’s here on “Land of No Water”. There’s classical piano on “Closer to Scaffold” and that sax reappears on “Funeral Blues”, which has the playful air of black metal vaudeville but it’s the whole rather than the parts which impressed me. The drums trigger sometimes and always dominate with their strong and sophisticated patterns. Here and there I thought of Septic Flesh as I listened to the re-enactment of a relentless driving force. It’s dark as if it has been hired in from Hades yet it’s melodic. Above all “Extance” is expansive and full of sparks and imagination. At the core are strong and enveloping songs, none more so than the 12 minute epic “Palindrome” which closes the album with typical ferocity. The range of heavy metal instrumentals is strong but there’s an emotional edge.

There’s a lot to take in here on “Extance” but equally listening to a full-out experience such as this is rewarding.

(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

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