Aeon’s fifth full-length album is a monumental work that rivals any other heavy album released this year.

Aeon is a band from Sweden peopled by Tommy Dahlström (vocals), Zeb Nilsson (guitars), Daniel Dlimi (guitars), and Tony Östman (bass), with Janne Jaloma on drums for the album. They released their first EP twenty years ago and have produce increasingly solid work thereafter. Their last longplayer was Aeons Black, released in 2012 and it was a highly regarded entry in the band’s canon. The new album, God Ends Here, is even better and will surely make year-end “best of” lists far and wide.

After a dramatic intro piece, the album kicks off with “Liar’s Den,” and it is a heavy hammer swung straight at your head. The song smashes together multiple styles ranging from 80s metal to modern death metal. Vocal depth and blast beats highlight and color the musical explosion. It is a lot to take in, and that is even before the rampaging lead guitar break. “Let It Burn” follows with a groove vibe in the front riff and a commanding vocal assertion. But then there is a lyrical transition piece that is light and eerie and theatrical right before “Church of Horror,” an aggressive, thrashy track that is one of my favorites on the album.

This brings me to the structure of the album, which is unusual. What you typically see is some kind of predictable regularity in the sequencing of tracks on the album. You know, maybe a couple of transition pieces with mainly longer songs, or just epic pieces alone, or all short ones. Maybe one outlier – a blip or a big anchor. God Ends Here is more variegated with a fuller range of expression. And, importantly, the “transition” pieces aren’t merely convenient functional tidbits. Instead they are integral in the overall work.

A good example of this is the triplet of the raging “Forsaker” delivered in a furious two-minute chunk followed by “Into The Void,” which is a one-minute chorale that sets up the title track, a big production with deep, integrated layering. These are three very different songs that work precisely together to create a larger suite that is itself an indispensable part of the even bigger chronicle. It is a fantastic achievement at every level. I hope that this album is a sign of even more music coming in the near future from Aeon. Highly recommended.

God Ends Here is out tomorrow, Friday October 15^th through Metal Blade Records. Links below.

Band photo by Tony Östman.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://aeon666.bandcamp.com/album/god-ends-here

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/aeon666

Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/aeon/