Aesma Daeva - Dawn Of The New Athens (2007)

Aesma Daeva - Dawn Of The New Athens

Please Sir, not this shit again, not this infamous “opera metal” tag. Another one which shouldn’t exist, most of time working as nothing more than a poor attempt at legitimizing hyperglycaemic pop crap a la Within Temptation. Until recently I’d stayed convinced only one band had managed ro successfully mix opera with metal, this band being – guess what – Therion. Alright, sorry to once again bring back Christofer Johnsson & co. here, but it’s all the more needed Aesma Daeva we’re dealing with now had opened for our well-known Dragon Rouge aficionados a few years ago, to the point both bands developed ties close enough for Lori Lewis, at that time Aesma Daeva’s singer, to soon also become one of Therion’s singers. But let’s not anticipate, this will be for another part of this four-chapters mini-series.

Some ill-intentioned listener might also suggest Christofer Johnsson in turn thanked the Aesma Daeva members by telling them how to write good songs. Indeed, up to The New Athens Ethos this band had mostly consisted in inept avant-garde stammering, large ambient parts of negligible interest, a token opera singer who most of time... remained silent, and a semblance of metal riffs on maybe five percents of the total. The contrast with the present release is striking. Of course Dawn of the New Athens still has obvious intellectual pretentions, but they go further than mindless avant-garde junk. No more of those, and very few ambient parts as well - those pretty much sum up to the first minute of the opening song, not even a full interlude. The opera singer is now the at that time still unknown Lori Lewis, and she sings – A LOT. And, more importantly, every single inch is metal. Orchestral, operatic metal, but still metal.

And above all it doesn’t sound like Therion. It doesn’t have anything to do with Therion. Though the composition is radically different compared to the previous albums, Dawn of the New Athens strangely retains a specific Aesma Daeva spirit, quite unique and (thus?) hard to describe. The conventional backing orchestrations which are the law of the - bastard - genre are present but not to the point they’d overwhelm the guitars, drums and vocals, so nothing to complain about even if, to be honest, said orchestrations don’t really vary from one track to the other and weren’t exactly indispensable. Further, though this album doesn’t feature any choir Lori Lewis makes this latter unnecessary. She is the opera herself, to the point some tracks become like caricatures. Listen to D’Oreste, the most obvious example: the guys even used Italian lyrics, the language the layman usually associates with opera (hem... don’t forget Richard Wagner, good Sir) and, though miss Lewis simply sounds astonishing, at such a point I’d rather listen to plain opera. Showy, far, far too showy, if you see what I mean.

Hell, just tell me about the opener Tisza’s Child instead. If Lori may appear more reasonable here this doesn’t prevent her from singing very well, on the contrary; and at least the listener is more likely to appreciate the whole music at its true value – A GENUINE DOOM RIFF, you heard well, and not one of the least, hands down. Who could have believed, listening to the abomination known as The Eros of Frigid Beauty, this band would one day record a doom song? Of course there’s still the atmospheric intro, but unlike before it fits quite well with the rest. The haunting hymn to chastity Artemis is another strong cut, not really a new song as it’s merely a remix from a track from the previous album. The best track from the previous album, should we add; granted this wasn’t very difficult. Still once again the hypnotic leitmotiv of the bawu, this odd Chinese instrument, hits its target, while Lori’s melancholic tone adds another flavour to this piece seemingly coming from remote, ancient times. Eventually The Loon works as a slow, intensively sad closer once again enhanced with a certain doom-ish vibe, though to this respect Tisza’s Child works better.

Alright let’s be honest now, for the rest this album, though unique and imbued with mystery, isn’t exactly of the kind you’d spin every day. A curio, without doubt an agreeable curio, but nothing more than a curio nonetheless. Hymn to the Sun, though it’s to a lesser extent than his aforementioned successor D’Oreste, leans too much towards the over-operatic side to be fully honest. The Camp of Souls is a slow song which unfortunately lacks the true doom vibe of the opener and instead just wanders into boredom. The Bluish Shade and Ancient Verses are both solid mid-tempo hymns which, who knows why, still lack this additional spice which would make them durably stick into the listener’s memory. Eventually Since the Machine might be the only truly bad song – stupid additional male vocals, sloppy riffing, overall uninteresting – but compared to what Aesma Daeva had recorded before there’s nothing to complain about either. Oh, and let’s not forget the questionable production. Hadn’t a drummer been credited I’d have sworn it was a machine given how artificial the drums overall sound, while the guitars are too thin to deliver the crushing vibe most songs, especially the doom ones, would have deserved.

Perhaps should I confirm it: when I wrote those not-so-friendly reviews for Aesma Daeva’s previous albums, I hadn’t heard a single note from Dawn of the New Athens and had no clue my prediction something good should eventually come out from this band would reveal itself true. Opera metal? Indeed. A curio – but worth a listen.

copas from http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Aesma_Daeva/Dawn_of_the_New_Athens/144722/

Tracklist:
01. Tisza's Child
02. The Bluish Shade
03. Artemis
04. Hymn To The Sun
05. D'Oreste
06. The Camp Of Souls
07. Ancient Verses
08. Since The Machine
09. The Loon

TKP

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