Idolos "Ajchikaj" CD Digipack

Co-released with Percussive Spectre and (#invalid label link ID#). Comes in 4-panel digipak with 16-page booklet.

Final part of the Venusian-Maya trilogy. Limited to 500 copies.
Acid Vicious / Percussive Spectre / Orejona Productions.

All too soon, the third and final entry in a trilogy of recordings, made by two French eccentrics claiming to be visitors from Venus, on Mayan and Aztec mythology has arrived. "Ajchikaj" concludes what was begun by the duo Idolos on "Ahi Cab" and which the musicians continued on "Náa". In the meantime, if they really are Venusians, Idolos have learned a great deal (hopefully good!) about music and Western black metal and 1970s-era prog rock in particular, and will return to their home planet with their spaceship full of goodies from those genres. At this time of review, "Ajchikaj" having been released a month ago (May 2023), the duo might have already flown home, leaving us Earthlings no information as to if or when they'll make a second trip here.
In their short stay on Earth, the Venusians have absorbed a great deal of musical influences – whereas previous EP "Náa" featured a lot of harsh atmospheric BM with doom metal, ambient and psychedelia elements, "Ajchikaj" goes in a more post-black metal direction featuring more keyboards and occasionally pushing the harsher BM elements into the background. The result is a recording with much intense emotion, mostly melancholy and sorrowful, and more melody of an epic and far-ranging nature. After a sombre introduction featuring a sampled female-voice monologue and a synth melody over restrained post-BM backing, Idolos let rip – or rather, wake up slowly and work up towards that state – with "Face Revealed", a song of varied pace from slow to sedate and then blast-beat speedy and back. The growling monster voices are still present but appear more restrained, and clean spoken-word vocals along with solo synth melodies are mixed into the song. Mournful hard rock / prog rock influences are worked into the song via an extended lead guitar solo near the end.
The melancholy as well as a sense of dark dread continue in "Into The House of Bats" though the combination of two batty vocals – one high-pitched falsetto, the other groaning reptile – early in the track almost spoil the song's funereal nature and dark ambient / atmospheric BM style. Listeners are best advised to concentrate on the music which is the genuine emotional article and features some superb musicianship and passages of deeply dramatic yet controlled melodies and atmosphere. Closing track "The Sun and the Moon" returns to a more neutral mood in which melodic atmospheric BM and cosmic synth effects provide the backdrop to playful monster vocals and build up to a layered triumphal climax and a wistful, dream-like conclusion. It's hard not to think that at this point, our favourite BM Venusians have already said their goodbyes and flown back to the second rock out from the Sun.
Technically "Ajchikaj" is a very accomplished and varied work with polish and much emotion, and yet somehow it doesn't quite match "Náa" in emotional impact. Perhaps the turn to a more melodic and professional style of music, slower and in parts less aggressive and more accessible to a wider audience, comes at the cost of emotional authenticity. Parts of "Ajchikaj" sound rather forced and theatrical, and the vocalisations on the last couple of tracks can appear downright silly. That's a pity in a way as these two tracks would otherwise have been the best tracks on a short EP of often good if a little too commercial-sounding melodic post-BM / post-rock.

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