Langenneet "Aionin Soihtu" CD Digipack

Digipak limited to 300 copies.

Digipak CD version. 8 page booklet. Includes lyrics with english translations.

Aeon’s Torch (Uzziel). Feel the power of eternity - rage of love and hate. Below all depths - above all heights. Source of light - aeon’s torch. The faces of war. Courage and strength Demonic aggression. Noble pride. Source of light - aeon’s torch. Feel the power of eternity - rage of love and hate Rise! See! Live and witness

And we continue with another one man project, this time from Finland. Langenneet seems to be quite a new act with not much info available. “Aionin soitu” is the second full length offering 37 minutes of mainly classic black and death metal with a few elements from other genres like doom added on top to create something a bit out of the ordinary. One thing Langenneet have managed is to reflect the sinister and unsettling feeling they wanted to create in their music. This is black/death metal with a very captivating atmosphere, but not what one would normally classify as atmospheric black metal. Atmosphere alone is rarely enough to carry a full album, but used as one of the pillars of the sound it can be a dividing factor, separating a good genre work from average stuff.
The coldness here is sterile and precise, yet the music feels lively and energetic. The harsh wall of static guitar washes over throbbing bass as bits of noise skitter and crawl across the soundscape. The music actually feels like a horrifying night of tossing and turning while always making sure that a minimum of melodic elements are present. The layering of the guitars along with the creepy nature of the vocals provides an encapsulating feel in the first track “Liekehtivät silmät”. This song sets the tone by starting things off with some tremolo lines, joined by a hypnotic harmony and trance-like main chords, all drenched in pure darkness. The riff attacks burn and swirl with evil intent, and become sinister and savagely delirious, both ominous and dismal.
There are a few slower, nearly doomy pieces where the slightly melancholic guitar sound helps creating an eerie and depressing atmosphere. This is dark and moody music and while I am not talking about anything like ambient metal this album might not be the best fit for anyone looking for some overly catchy or fun music. The harmonies presented by the lead guitar can be very frightening and hypnotic, crawling under listener’s skin with ease. Some of the main themes are going to pierce your soul, and they often come and go over the course of the record, lending the whole thing a very stringent character. The vocals also manifest these feelings, with the intense delivery fitting the instrumentation like a glove.
With the songwriting being spot on, not too simple but not too cumbersome either, this release is just a feast for fans of bleak and grim black/death metal. The production is fine in my books, although there might be room for improvement. That being said it perfectly transports the ideals behind the music which is not meant to come with a too polished sound so in some ways the slightly murky feeling further enhances the oppressive feeling. “Aionin soitu” is not the most complex or most innovative album of the year and will probably not make a lot of year end lists. However, in case you are looking for a good dose of cold Finish metal Langenneet should be on your list.

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