Cosplay metal has really gotten out of hand…there’s so many bands that look like they’ve escaped from San Diego Comicon that bands wearing plain street gear now seem to be the outcasts. AEON GODS originate from Germany, but one look at their promo pic shows they would rather be from ancient Babylon. Oy vey! I put my head in my hands after seeing that, but when I got around to putting King Of Gods on the stereo, I must admit…this is not that bad at all.
Yes, it is pompous symphonic power metal…what else would you expect from Scarlet Records? But once you get past the sizable wall of cheese, you’re left with some powerful tunes and very catchy vocal lines. The obsession with Babylonian mythology is all-encompassing but power metal fans should really enjoy the thunderous likes of ‘Sun God’ and the title track, full of blasting double bass drums, lightspeed guitar runs and the clean vocals of one Sol’ ra-tu, aka Alex Hunzinger in the real world. His singing is not on the blowaway level of NEW HORIZON’s Nils Molin but it fits the music and has a pleasant tone.
The album really comes into its own with ‘Aeon Gods’ and ‘Babylon Burning’. These tracks are the class of the album, with the first having a magisterial mid-paced heaviness and the second actually sounding like metal from the ancient world. ‘The Descent’ is another powerful cruncher showing not all modern power metal has to be fast to be effective. On the down side, ‘Monster Of Tiamat’ is just an awful song, cheesy in the extreme, with poor vocal lines and lyrics. The album would have been better if this had been scuttled completely.
We also get a 3 part epic called ‘The Flood’ which leans a bit more towards keyboards and soft melody…not terrible, but not exceptional either. The album wraps with the very symphonic ‘Tablet Of Destinies’.
AEON GODS might look a bit on the silly side, but I must admit, not many bands are doing the Babylonian/Sumerian mythology things. And despite the cosplay look, King Of Gods is a strong debut of European power metal.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
AEON GODS
King Of Gods
Scarlet Records