originally written by Erik Thomas
So, here’s a palette cleanser, the third album from Sweden’s death metal machine Aeon. After breaking out with their Metal Blade debut, Rise to Dominate, the band has taken three years to unleash their latest offering and while it is a by-the-numbers affair, it excels in every department required for a stellar death metal record.
Sounding more like a Floridian death metal act (notably the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Monstrosity) than many of their Swedish brethren, Aeon’s sound is versed in the balance between brutality, complexity and memorability. The band isn’t as complex and melodic as say Gorod or label-mates Brain Drill, but they are neither as ‘broodle’ as Defeated Sanity or Unique Leader(a label they once resided on) acts like Hour of Penance. Aeon falls somewhere in between, with a clinical savagery and shifty complexity that’s well-executed and heavy enough to satiate the brutal crowd.
Opening with the perfectly placed “Forgiveness Denied”, Path of Fire isn’t so much a ground breaking album but is a swift and deadly lesson in death metal perfection. Tommy Dahlström has a standard, unspectacular bark that allows the instruments to remain the centerpiece. And with the mixing / mastering efforts of Erik Rutan and Alan Douches, the sound is pummeling yet crystal clear, as guitarists Daniel Dlimi and Zeb Nilsson cut a swathe of swirling riffs and solos and drummer Nils Fjellström provides a steady double bass backbone.
The album’s perfect 41-minute run time is split in half with “Total Kristus Inversus”, as the 10 other songs render slick and razor sharp moments of veteran death metal precision. Notably, tracks like “Of Fire” (with its delicate synths), blistering, anthemic “Kill them All”, churning “Inheritance” and the album’s epic closer “God of War”, the very epitome of all things good in death metal in one 6-minute end-note.
Ultimately, Path of Fire may still get overlooked later in the year by the likes of the new Decrepit Birth, Fleshgod Apocalypse EP and a few other upcoming big-name death metal releases, but as it stands, it’s a damn fine release that does everything right as far as Floridian-styled death metal is concerned.
