Aara – Triade II: Hemera

Artist: Aara

Album Title: Triade II: Hemera

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Date of Release: 13 May 2022

There’s prolific, and then there’s Aara. Formed in 2018, Swiss atmospheric black metal band Aara have released not one, not two, or even three albums in their short career. No, ‘Triade II: Hemera’ is actually their fourth full-length release in less than four years. Add an EP into the mix too, and the mind just boggles as to where the band find the time, the energy, and the inspiration to record so much music.

A trio, Aara are comprised of multi-instrumentalist Berg (which is German for ‘Mountain’) who handles the bass, guitar, and samples, vocalist Fluss (German for ‘River’), and drummer J. Deliberately enigmatic, little else is known about the musicians, Berg and Fluss in particular, except that they are seemingly inspired heavily by literature. ‘Triade II: Hemera’ is the second part in what the band term as the ‘Melmoth’ trilogy, inspired by the Charles Robert Maturin Gothic novel of 1820 entitled ‘Melmoth The Wanderer’. I’ve never heard of it if I’m honest, but that doesn’t hamper things particularly because, like much extreme metal, the vocals are indecipherable. In the case of Fluss, his shrieks and screams are incredibly high-pitched and often barely audible above the aggressive cacophony that runs alongside.

And when I refer to the ‘aggressive cacophony’, I really mean it, because from start to finish, ‘Triade II: Hemera’ is a truly vicious beast, with a real sense of nastiness and intense claustrophobia. Even the relatively quiet intro to the first track, ‘Phantasmagorie’ has a deeply ominous feel to it, as if we’re being subjected to the sounds of a foreboding darkness, from which there is no escape. From there, icy fast-picked guitar notes and acoustic picking are accompanied by despairing wails, the rattling of chains, and grotesque atmosphere, before the full force of the song comes in to smack us over the head with no mercy. But interestingly, the full force of the black metal assault is laced with melody. Blastbeats, savage screams, and charging, relentless riffing are somehow given a softer edge by the lead guitar lines that offer genuine melody.

That said, I like the way that the melody is occasionally twisted to become less welcoming and serene; it’s like Aara want to lull us into a false sense of security, before reminding us that they are ultimately an evil, sadistic entity that are just as happy causing us pain and anguish as they are entertaining us. Nevertheless, the more I listen, the more catchy the music becomes, especially when the religious-sounding choir enters in what is an intriguing, but thoroughly engrossing dichotomy – it genuinely works.

Naturally, this being black metal, a word is required at this juncture on the production. It isn’t the ‘we recorded this in a shoe box on a four-track’, but it is reasonably lo-fi, meaning that more than anything, it’s not easy or comfortable to listen to. The music has an energy which definitely comes from the organic, ‘live’ feel to the sound. But not all of the instrumentation is afforded the greatest clarity, with the bass often just a passing hum in the background, or non-existent altogether. The drumming is utterly relentless, a barrage of blasts and fast fills, but I wish the sound was a little more robust to give it an even greater potency. At the end of the day, though, this is nasty, spiteful black metal regardless of the melodic edge, so perhaps the chosen production is completely the right decision for the Swiss trio. And who am I to argue?

Instead, I will focus on the music and another of the six tracks to really catch my attention is ‘Sonne Der Nacht’. Once again, the bulk of the song isa relentless and punishing slice of fast, aggressive black metal, but it is laced with interesting ingredients. First up is the use of traditional Indian vocals, that adds a different flavour to the music. The female voice creates a sense of mystique within the song, that’s then built upon by sections of slower, more melodic fare that allow a bit more of the melody to seep through, definitely something that works well given the overall swift, uncompromising nature of the vast majority of the song. To cap it all off, there are a couple of moments when the song indulges in truly anthemic melody led by the lead guitars of Berg, the kind to really get me grinning evilly.

‘Das Dunkel Der Welt’ is another thunderous affair, but again, within the cacophony, there’s plenty of pretty majestic melody actually, the kind that is incredibly insidious; it isn’t until you’ve listened a few times that you fully realise just how memorable the song is, because most of your attention is drawn to the more abrasive and unforgiving aspects of the composition. In fact, the same could be said of other tracks too, including the massive ‘Strepitus Mundi’, an eight-minute affair that’s cold and claustrophobic in its almost unhinged violence, yet subtly charming thanks to the undercurrent of melody, albeit occasionally veering towards the discordant and uncomfortable just to ensure that the listener doesn’t get too comfortable.

Having heard nothing of Aara in the past, I came into this review with no real expectations of any kind. In a way, this makes it all the more pleasing to be able to say that ‘Triade II: Hemera’ is a real diamond in the rough. The production and the venomous violence is the rough, whilst the clever use of melody and the injection of elements like the Indian vocals, the choir, and even the Jewish shofar horn are the gems to be discovered if you are prepared to take a proper, detailed listen to this album. You’ve got to like black metal to enjoy Aara’s music, but if you do, then ‘Triade II: Hemera’ comes with a strong recommendation. And, on current form, we can probably look forward to ‘Triade III’ within a few short months too!

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Published by manofmuchmetal

Leave a Reply Cancel reply