Aeon Of Eternal - The Wanderer

Walking a fine line between beauty and sadness, one person atmospheric death doom outfit Aeon Of Eternal (simply led by Aeon) present its 2021 debut “The Wanderer.” Taking the best elements of bands like Draconian, Nyx, Ava Inferi, and Nox Aurea, this album is full of mysterious, yet tolerable doom that doesn’t quite stretch into drowning time lengthy tracks but also doesn’t feel too short of a ride either. While this album may not be as layered or epic as some of the artists mentioned earlier, Aeon does a good job of capturing beauty and beast sounding music in an ethereal way. Opening with ‘Niwl’ one can certainly tell this going to be a lot more on the atmospheric side. Using haunting female vocals as mostly a backing instrument or like keyboards (much in the Ava Inferi manner) really contrasts the faster death metal style riffs and growls but never interfering, and even during the heavier parts the riffs are chock full of sorrowful melody, in a much heavier manner compared to a group like Draconian which tend to go a slower, more drawn out route.

While the vocals can sound a bit buried at times, they really shine on tracks like ‘Koit’ where the riffs just carry on and they moan/ wail over them before the growled vocals come in. For those who really dig the beauty and beast side of melo death doom, the first half of the album features them the most and then the second half just seems to barely use them at all. Aeon tends to overtake the music with his faster, heavier riffs and snarled vocals when it comes to tracks like ‘Deigh’ or ‘Daruuraha’ but even without the female vocals for support, he throws in a few surprises here and there to keep things interesting, such as middle eastern chanting or other atmospheric sounds before letting the female vocals come in just for a little bit. They are more prevalent on a track like ‘Torden’ which adds in folk elements as well, and here Aeon sounds like he lets up just a little bit on the spotlight to let the female vocals back in, especially at the end where it is just them and despite being an outro to the track they sound chilling and excellent.

The final track is more like a spoken word outro over the guitars, which somewhat hurts the album as it feels like an outro filler. Aeon could have ended much stronger with perhaps providing more folk/ eastern influences and perhaps giving a full track to the female vocals performing on their own without the heavier death doom influences, but ‘Veda’s’ quiet atmospheric keyboards showcase the more atmospheric side of Aeon Of Eternal aside from the female vocals. Overall, those who like something dark and gloomy that isn’t a typical Draconian or My Dying Bride attempt will find Aeon Of Eternal a very talented effort. It has everything someone who enjoys death doom with accompanying female vocals could want without sounding over bearing or over produced. A very impressive one person effort on the skill of the drums, guitars, and vocal(s) work.

4 / 5 STARS


1. Niwl
2. Sumu
3. Koit
4. Daruuraha
5. Deigh
6. Torden
7. Veda


Self released
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jun 11, 2021

Share this: