- First time ever in physical format.
- 4/4 UV-printed allover cassette
- 4-panel J-card
- Clear case.
- Limited to 60 copies
For the first time ever in physical format - Korpituli Productions presents to you - the 2012 avantgarde-metal masterpiece Aegisthus by Aberrant Vascular from Finland.
This eccentric genre-bending album was released almost 10 years ago and it went a bit under the radar back then so as I've held this release in high regard ever since it's inception in 2012 I wanted to share this album to the new audiences of 2020s and offer a chance for the older fans to own a physical copy of this in their collection.
They've got orchestral arrangements, trip-hop-esque beats, industrial synths, bone-chilling operatic vocal acrobatics and brilliant guitar riffs combined in a whirlwind of emotions.
For fans of the more adventurous metal like Arcturus, Solefald, Vulture Industries and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
CMYK UV-printed allover cassette,
Recorded and produced by AV.
Mixed by Jonas Jalava.
Mastered by Jaakko Viitalähde at Virtalähde Mastering.
Cover and group photo by Sebastian Köhler.
Lyrics of "Le Temps.." contain parts from
Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du mal".
The ending of the same piece contains a part from
the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's
Symphony No. 7.
Lumi: Vocals
Asa: Guitars
Heikki: Keys and electronics
Pasi: Base
Thanks to Jonas Jalava, Sebastian Köhler, Jaakko Viitalähde and Joonas Juntunen.
Maybe a band has to come over a bit pretentious at times. Why remain in the ordinary routine of crafting music, when something else is possible, too? Aberrant Vascular has a name in the underground for some obscure and even slightly overdone operative metal with an avant-garde touch; see their demos, which they spread as a free download some years ago. Aegisthus is their recently made available debut album …
The title of the album deals with a rather long story, which is too complex to explain it in detail. As usual in the Ancient Greece too many characters are involved and these do too many things; to boil it down is rather challenging. Sex, incest, revenge, power and all such stuff are the core essence of it all. Look it up at Wikipedia, will you? Or read Homer's Odyssey. As of now, there are no lyrics available … it is therefore merely speculation that each of the tracks deals with a certain passages of this tale. The last track is an exception though and deals with Charles Baudelaires' Les Fleurs du Mal.
The musical concept on Aegisthus hovers around Arcturus' La Masquerade Infernale or the music of the Norwegian band Source of Tide or maybe even a bit of Solefald (early). Not only the strange counterpoints of the operatic vocals and the occasional growls will leave a certain amusement, also the overall atmosphere, this mixture between pretentious (or even arrogant?) operatic parts and modern extreme metal (influences range from black over death to electronic), has been done in such a neat kind as well as convincing kind of way that the Finns are able to “entertain” the listener over the entire release with an astounding amount of facets. To avoid some kind of confusion, this is not some kind of comedic take on such a concept. There is nothing funny in how everything had been arranged or merged together. Yet, there is an easiness in each of the compositions, which leaves the listener in a state of sheer amusement and bewilderedness.
Nevertheless, it all feels a bit … it feels it could have been … could have been even more insane. A nuance here, a nuance there. Aegisthus is full of strange switches in tempo, arrangement, concept and such, there is no doubt about that, but it comes over rather planned and not “unintentional” or surprising. Arcturus or Solefald are more extreme in this regard. More in vein of the Finnish band Spiderpact on their Goatspeed into Magenta Vacuum output – sadly their only release so far – would have been nice. Maybe this impressions stems from a lack of strange aspect, which do not appear on the Aberrant Vascular's debut. It is a metal release and even though it is unconventional in its own way, from a broader perspective it is still on the save side of the shore – even though one might at least give the musicians credit to have dared to take a glance around the corner or beyond the chasm. This is not enough though and Spiderpact's approach reveals this in a nice kind of way. Their ep is fascinating because it dares to be different, because it wants the listener to take this trip, wants this person to deal with the odd juxtapositions. One example: “Stormclad into Nihil (Existential Penetralia)” comes with the sample of a crowded pub, while later the piano plays an eccentric tune, which becomes a focal aspect of the music all of a sudden. This more in complexity, variety and disturbing elements is what Aberrant Vascular do not like to add to their art. Their music is too metal and therefore too conservative.
Aegisthus is an interesting release … but the music feels it could have been a good amount stranger, confusing and daring.
Sample:
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