German deathers Sulphur Aeon did something neat with their full length debut, 2013’s Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide – they pulled from all over the place without going overboard in any single area. Bombastic, blasting, brutal, melodic, blackened, and murky, but not too bombastic, blasting, brutal, melodic, blackened, and/or murky. It had that special kind of polished balance that could just as easily be labeled “extreme metal” as it could some long string of words describing a sub-sub-sub-sub-genre. It was also a heap of fun.
A similar balance is found on sophomore effort Gateway to the Antisphere, but this time around, everything is just bigger. Imagine if someone crossbred Behemoth with Hypocrisy and trapped the unholy spawn in Cthulhu’s prison for a while to stew. Low death metal rumbles are deeper; tremolo riffs are sharper; vocals are far more varied; the atmosphere is more developed and better utilized; Tägtgren-ish leads are hookier. Because everything was taken up a notch in equal amounts, that crucial balance remains.
Beyond balance, however, is the band’s sense of purpose. Proper opener “Devotion to the Cosmic Chaos” employs about all of the tools mentioned above, and sounds absolutely determined in doing so. It also loses none of this vibe when turning into a cacophonous and unholy racket; rather, it’s an organized unholy racket. Everything seems to be part of some great incantation or conjuration. A corny description? Sure, absolutely, particularly for a band that swears by Lovecraft for lyrical inspiration, but there’s no denying the otherworldly aura of the Sulphur Aeon sound.
And then there’s the feeling of monumental size and space. With song titles such as “Titans,” “Calls from Below,” “Abysshex,” and “Seventy Steps,” it’s clear that size matters to Sulphur Aeon. A few distinct enhancements to their sound really emphasized the depth and enormity of it all. The production offers that great kind of “polished rawness” that you’d hear on a Hypocrisy album, but with extra bits of ambient noises and eerie sound effects to expand the range; the guitars often double up octaves to great effect, heightening the sound with multiple layers; finally, the (magnificent) vocals range from deep growls and throaty rasps to higher, preaching cries, as heard during the chorus of the album’s dominating title track. (Seriously, that one’s a face ripper.)
It’s these extra little touches that really make Gateway to the Antisphere a good one, and just unique enough. When you are presented with the lowest lows, highest highs, and everything in between, you get a sound that could only be called tall. This sounds tall. This is Tall Death Metal. In this way, it isn’t all too dissimilar from Bölzer, but Sulphur Aeon was kind enough to provide a full album (and more than one great song). And in a similar way to Bölzer, Sulphur Aeon sounds like the result of 30 years of extreme metal refinement. This brings the knowledge of generations to every last detail, from the bombastic intro and great vocal production to the smart mix of melody and brutality. It’s been done better, sure, but it’s been done far worse, and far more often.
Size does matter. It just requires balance and determination to be effective.
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Editor’s note: Last Rites apologizes for the way the reviewer’s closing line brought attention to the tentacle porn aspects of that cover art. You are urged to ignore that and listen to these righteous death jams, you jackwagons.
Reviewer’s note: that cover art rules.
