Written: 29th March 2025
Celebrating their tenth anniversary this year, Greek / Finnish doom metal band Aeonian Sorrow overcame changes in their line-up before releasing 2023’s full-length Katara and are now preparing to follow this with EP From The Shadows.
Opening track Harbinger of Ruin begins with lines of ominous spoken word – in her native Greek - from vocalist / keyboardist Gogo Melone. Του κάτω κόσμου οι φωνές / Μαρτυρικά θρηνούνε (in English, The voices of the underworld / Mourning martyrs). Synths swell and foreboding whispers oscillate as the opening minute of the track steadily unfolds. Following this, the first wave of crashing sound descends, the keyboards adopt a more grandiose approach, blast beats from drummer Achilles Papagrigoriou reverberate and harsh vocalist Joel Notkonen's first salvo flies from the speakers. Lyrically, the song encapsulates an epic, tragic downfall where all paths lead to annihilation and a final reckoning. The winds of delusions sweep through the vale / Silent echoes of promises buried deep in a grave / Crumbled stones beneath the flaming sky / The harbinger calls as the last hope dies. Throughout the track, Melone and Notkonen trade vocals during which the band play with tempos and dynamics. Melone’s ethereal and lamenting voice perfectly suits the more melancholic moments and Notkonen is convincingly discerning in his approach to his gutturals and growls. Towards the end of the song, they both sing with Melone showing the vast range of her voice and her ability to carry moments of the louder, heavier segments of the song.
Whispers In The Dark begins with colossal, doom-laden riffs. Notkonen aims for the abyss during the first verse, his voice as dense and darkly spectral as suffocating oil spilling over us. More consistently slower in tempo than Harbinger of Ruin, the processional, funereal and solemn aspects of the band’s music come more to the fore, a deep sense of loneliness and regret being the overriding emotions. It is not until some four minutes in that Melone joins Notkonen, this time duetting, singing the same lyrics. Her whispers in the dark / Are calling my name / The dust fuelling flame / Her voices murmur for me / They are chanting my fate / In an empty trail. Haunting and agonised, the lyrics explore isolation, longing and a lingering ghostly presence of memory that refuses to be extinguished.
Third track, the nine minute Your Blackened Forest begins with a more open, swaying rhythm and a gothic tinged aura. Throughout the track, there are some delightful melodic flourishes from guitarists Taneli Jämsä and Jukka Jauhiainen, the gothic atmosphere blending intriguingly with some almost pastoral moments that help to bring the sinister arboreal landscape to life. With superb performances from both vocalists, the setting acts as both a physical and emotional backdrop, symbolising sorrow and entrapment. My favourite track on the EP, it is sombrely splendorous, veiled with a dark opulence that the keyboards, particularly the piano at the end of the track, bring to life through increased emphasis on the band’s cinematic leanings. The lyrics in Finnish towards the song’s conclusion heighten the introspective nature, expressing a wish for dawn to break the curse.
Final track Mist Of Oblivion opens with a sparkling keyboard pattern that hints at increased optimism but as the guitars join and the key changes, twilight falls anew. Initially, Notkonen half-speaks, half-sings the lyrics drawing us closer as if we are about to listen to a twisted fairy story by the fire. A vacant dawn / In wounds and sears / Is following thee / A midnight rest / In a silent room / Oppressed by the fire. As we approach, he strikes, his guttural roars rise to resume their onslaught. Rapid fire blast beats return mid-way through the song and sit in juxtaposition to Melone’s sonorous vocalisations. A song that seems to amalgamate everything that the EP has offered so far, Mist Of Oblivion ends From The Shadows in solid fashion.
From The Shadows is an elegantly wrought and well executed collection of songs. With reverence for the genre’s funereal roots, they channel the most well-established tropes of gothic doom. Across the EP, there are some excellent guitar motifs such as the one three minutes into Mist Of Oblivion over which Melone and then Notkonen both sing. A minute later, we hear some of this without any vocals. Personally, I would wholeheartedly welcome more opportunities of this kind. Nevertheless, Across The Shadows is eminently enjoyable and Aeonian Sorrow certainly understand how to structure their music; they clearly understand how to balance the use of their two vocalists effectively. An EP worth investigating for fans of bands such as Draconian, Swallow The Sun, and When Nothing Remains.
From The Shadows is released on 31st March 2025
Aeonian Sorrow online
Official website: www.aeoniansorrow.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aeoniansorrowofficial
Bandcamp: www.aeoniansorrow.bandcamp.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/aeoniansorrow
