Year: 2020
Total Time: 51:14
Label: Black Lion Records

2020 has left a few days ago and most people are probably relieved for this fact. At THEGALLERY.GR (and everywhere in the world, let’s not hide it anyway) we are preparing for our lists regarding the best (in our humble opinion) Extreme Metal releases of the past year!

I am writing all this because as soon as the second album of the Spaniards AEOLIAN with the title “The Negationist” exploded, a band that had won me over with the debut of “Silent Witness” in 2018 and I was looking forward to the release of its successor. The Islanders (from Palma) give us a beautifully played melodic Death Metal with executive skill, always focused on their ecological concerns, with lyrics that have something serious to say! The truth is that this time they did not make a leap forward, however with small steady steps they try to establish their name. Near the melodic Death Metal they introduced other touches, such as Black Metal ala DISSECTION, folk elements with Spanish guitars and trumpets in “Ghosts Anthem”, and even Power Metal moments as SEVEN WITCHES and HELSTAR introduced us to “Blackout” with the use of violin in the finish, a very pleasant moment for me.

The constant alternations of rhythms are present here once more, as well as the “sharp” guitars with very interesting themes, the “solid” bass of the new Leoben Conoy and the “furious” drumming that we had heard in “Silent Witness”. The production is exemplary since the mastering was done at Unisound Studios by the Patriarch himself (see Dan Swano!) while the artwork has been edited by Juanjo Castellano (among his many works stands out the “Patriarchs Of Evil” of the Greeks VARATHRON) and is so much in tune with the theme of the lyrics, bringing to mind a recent National Geographic documentary on the environmental catastrophe that is intensifying around the Balearic Islands.

Listening to “The Negationist” was a beautiful experience for me, leaving me with a question. Why did AEOLIAN slowed down and did not give another impetus so that they could go further in their compositions? Perhaps the lack of concerts due to COVID19 was an important (not to say the main) factor. The truth is that the Spaniards seem ready to climb into the first category of the melodic Death Metal bands and look straight in the eye at the other beasts, since many are slowly retiring. We wish them to find themselves in a bigger label!

Rating: 7.5/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: AEOLIAN – Official Page