Seven crowns and seven seals | CD | Sulphur Aeon

SULPHUR AEON's latest work is blessed with contrasts, a sonic ebb and flow. A typhoon of angular riffs and wild blast beats, refined layers of melody, dense atmosphere, and triumphantly sung refrains take hold of you. Ethereal acoustic guitars, subtle synthesizers, a touch of gothic ('The Yearning Abyss Devours Us'), rich leads, E-bow parts, intense aggression ('Arcane Cambrian Sorcery'), monumental heaviness that transitions into hypnotic vocal patterns ('Seven Crowns And Seven Seals'), and a grand finale ('Beneath The Ziqqurrats') - 'Seven Crowns And Seven Seals' transcends genres; it rages and destroys, lulls you into dangerously deceptive calm moments later, only to irresistibly drag you into the dark whirlpool of the ocean. SULPHUR AEON master their penetrating cinematic death metal of the highest class, surpassing themselves and yet sounding unmistakably coherent - perfectly captured and refined by long-time collaborators Simon Werner and Michael Zech (Secrets Of The Moon, Bølzer, etc.), with mastering done by V. Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress). As for the artwork, SULPHUR AEON have broken tradition this time by not working with Ola Larsson again and have teamed up with Italian artist Paolo Girardi to depict a Lovecraftian apocalypse that opposes the opulence and dynamism of the album with a rougher style.

SULPHUR AEON's 'Seven Crowns And Seven Seals' is the obvious and - at least for now - possibly also the pinnacle of a band possessed by their creativity, passionately and willingly facing the challenge of producing music that is as timeless and original as the literary legacy of H.P. Lovecraft. Dive into the dark waters and let yourself be consumed by the flood of the ocean...