it as a beautiful country with snowy mountaintops and green valleys where furry animals frolic cheerfully between the bright white flowers.
But there seems to be a dark side to Switserland, a side where people worhsip the 'the radiant night of unexistence' with sheer brutality and ritualistic ferocity. A side where the previously mentioned furry animals are being impaled, defleshed and sacrificed to the dark, mysterious creatures who loom beneath our very feet.
Aion is a black metal trio from Sion, Switserland. It was founded in 2013 in order to give sonic shape to mental and physical limit experiences. Their debut, Verses Of Perdition, contains five tracks which represent five phases of a journey through the spiritual desert. It has become an intense, grimm and nihilistic album, punishing my speakers with powerful chaos and vicious guitars.
The album opens with a long intro which is actually an immense piece of guitar drones and noise, reminding me of bands like Skullflower. It functions as an opening ritual and an augury to the rest of the album. From there it only goes darker and faster. On track II the blastbeats appear and they will not cease until the ritual is complete and the victims have drowned in a pool of their own blood.
What makes Aion stand out, is the raw, in-your-face sound. The production sounds quite similar to that of the underground black metal scene in the nineties and 2000's. It gives the whole a highly convincing sound and a tremendous wrathful atmosphere which is simply perfect for any fan of 'true black metal'.
So yes, we're probably dealing with one of the bleakest and most fatalistic bands in the history of Switserland. Aion spawns their crushing black metal with a lot of intensity and appears to be highly qualified and talented to do so. Fans of the extremest, get your hands on this, you'll be blown away...