Aeternus – Philosopher

Here it is, Aeternus’ latest album ‘Philosopher’. It’s been five years since their previous album ‘Heathen’. In the meantime they switched labels, going from their hometown based Dark Essence Records to Agonia Records. This new album comes in a variety of different formats; CD, several versions of the 12” vinyl and also the old school cassette which is making a return nowadays. I wonder why by the way. Apart from these looking cool and bringing back some nostalgia they were never really a pleasure to play. The tape gets wind up, sound quality gets lost fast. But hey, that’s another story. Back to Aeternus.

Myself I’ve always been a huge Aeternus fan eversince their ‘Dark Sorcery’ mini-album on View Beyond Records from 1995. Especially their debut full-length ‘Beyond the Wandering Moon’ and its follow-up  ‘…and So the Night Became’ are very dear to me and even though Aeternus released many great albums throughout the years they somehow never managed to top their first two full-lengths. Am I stuck in the past? Don’t I grow along into more modern times? Perhaps. Fact is, these two full-length albums left such an impression on me that it would be impossible to top them. At least, that is what I always thought.

My first introduction with the new material was during some shows on their recent tour as support for Gorgoroth throughout Europe. Four tracks from the new album were included in the setlist and these left an instant good impression. Very catchy with recognizable riffs and melodies. Two of these actually got stuck in my mind for the next couple of days, without even hearing them on album. This made me even more curious to hear the full album.

So with high anticipation I started to listen to full-length album number nine entitled ‘Philosopher’. In a bit less than 40 minutes we get 7 songs that are typically Aeternus and after just one spin I was convinced we are dealing with a true masterpiece here. Combining the epic darkness from the first few albums with the brutality from later albums, never losing that typical and distinguishing Aeternus sound with Ares’ unique vocals which are recognizable out of thousands. What is completely different though is the catchiness from this album. Often this word leaves a bad taste in people’s mouth’s but here it is actually a good thing. A very good thing. All seven tracks have their own unique character yet all together form a cohesive album which makes a very enjoyable listen. And the way the songs are written and the order in which they are placed on the album makes ‘Philospher’ actually an addictive listen. Once it’s finished you just wanna push that PLAY button again for yet another spin. It’s now almost 3 months since I got the album and during these 3 months I have played this album every single day, never skipping a day. Often playing more than once a day actually. And this can be done only with the greatest of albums.

So yes, ‘Philosopher’ is a great album. In fact, and I never thought this could happen, but ‘Philosopher’ is actually Aeternus’ best work up to date, topping even the to me sacred first two full-length albums. Put on top a crystal clear, yet heavy production and we can truly speak of a masterpiece here, a name I don’t give too often to an album.