Though playing melodic death/black metal, Æolian culls from every corner of the genre, and I mean every corner. Early on it is the furious, slicing blackened Dissection-ish throes of opener “Hominis Obscura”, dancing, gorgeous classic Dark Tranquillity melodies of the second track “Dream of Reality”, even the more modern In Flames commercial viability of “The Miracle”.

But man, some of the album’s mid and late songs are utterly brilliant. You get some tightly wound At The Gates styled hack and slash riffs of “Her Grief”, with a gorgeous little piano break. Then “Like a Blackened Sun” (my personal favorite) delivers some superb blackened tremolo-picked melodies that you might hear on a Vinland album. Another standout (all of the tracks are really) “Into the Flames” is well, more In Flames-inspired goodness but from the band’s Whoracle/Colony era, with a little more ferocity and an addictive, layered gait.

The album’s back end continues to deliver more killer highlights whether it’s the moody, mid-paced “Lords of Greed”, the energetic Ebony Tears imbuing title track (with a fucking gorgeous little brass section-despite the surprisingly bad video above), or the sweeping 11-minute Disillusion style ambition of the closing “Chronicles of the Fall”.

There simply isn’t a bad or even average song on the album and as a result, it is for sure going to be one of my favorite albums of 2023.