(written by Islander)
When we premiered Aodon’s last album Portraits in 2023 we ventured the guess that listeners would have a hard time finding an album more overwhelmingly powerful in its sound and mood:
Over and over again, it takes the breath away with the monumental scale and visceral intensity of its music. The themes of the songs are dark, and unmistakably the music is too, even in its suddenly softer phases, which provide haunting (and occasionally even hopeful) reprieves from the album’s turbulent and towering intensity. It is, to forewarn you, a harrowing series of portrayals, but so immense and immersive that it chains the senses in place, caught and consumed by the calamities and the contrasts.
Portraits has stayed with us, but now we have something new to look forward to from this French atmospheric black metal band — a new album named Khamsin that’s set for release on November 27th by Aodon’s new label Transcending Obscurity Records.
As the label accurately portrays: “The music is almost never one-dimensional; every song undergoes transformation in varying degrees to contribute something valuable and meaningful to the album. Much like life, it showcases the turmoil, anguish, and even flashes of triumph, emotions that are all too palpable in their delicately arranged and tempered music.”
In addition to helping spread this news, today we’re premiering a song from Khamsin named “Sous les sangles“.
This new song storms and lavishly drenches the listener from the first moment. A vividly whirling lead guitar creates a riveting harmony with immense riffing that heavily rises and falls around hurtling drums, and scarring screams elevate the music’s already-tremendous intensity.
The tones create contrast as well as union. Those shrill guitar arpeggios sear and chime, establishing a presence that’s both otherworldly and either ecstatic or desperate, depending on your interpretation, while the much heavier movements far below sound forlorn and even dismal as they thunder. Meanwhile the drums veer from blasts to gallops, and eventually fall silent as the music begins to flow in cascades of sorrow.
A melodic guitar solo amplifies the music’s more stricken moods, slowly wailing its sorrow, and that striking melody persists as the drums and scalding vocals return. With the drums falling silent once more, the music expands and cascades again, becoming panoramic but also heartbreaking — and Aodon also storm again, sending the lead guitar into renewed flights of lightning-flash intensity, renewing the swirling melody once more as well, and causing the music to rise up like a dark tower.
The song is elaborate, richly layered, and dynamic, really a vast and breathtaking experience but also a haunting and melodically memorable one, and a fine herald of a fine album to come.
AODON Line-up:
All music and screams by M-Kha
Lyrics by Alix.R
AODON Live:
M-Kha: Lead guitar and screams
Alix.R: Bass
Laurent.C: Rhythm guitar
Martin.Dst: Lead guitar
François.B: Drums
Transcending Obscurity will release the album on vinvyl LP, jewelcase CD, and digital formats, with apparel and other merch featuring the cover art by Alex Eckman-Lawn. T.O. recommends it for fans of: Der Weg einer Freiheit, Harakiri for the Sky, Infestus, Misþyrming, Sinmara.
Below we’re also including streams of two previously released songs from the album — “Anthracite” and “À ton ombre“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://aodon-label.bandcamp.com/album/khamsin
http://us.tometal.com/
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
AODON:
https://facebook.com/AodonBand
https://www.instagram.com/aodonofficial