Hypnosophy is quite conventional at first, but after a short time, this release kicks off in awesome manner and the progressiveness beats somersaults. Extravagant singing, dissonant riffing, tribal-like drums and harsh black metal meet with jazzy echoes in the form of an uninhibited saxophonist. A delightfully relaxed, feisty, floating instrumental part increases with flaming guitars and Borknagar-like vocals, leading to a fascinatingly rich, but by no means exhausting broad composition.
A filthy forward rocking component gives Earth Tomb a dizzy, lively note; through the multi-voice text passages a musical flair appears and shows AENAON as a gripping, stylistically extremely open troop of bandsmen, which offers coherent compositions despite of the variability.
In the elegiac piece Void, AENAON perform an opulent number of different voices, including female singing and partly overlaid, shamanic chants.
Somehow, despite the demanding, bulky arrangements, the musicians create a high degree of listening pleasure, even if a song like the epic conclusion Phronesis - Psychomagi even cracks the 15 minute mark. Jazzy jam sessions go hand-in-hand with evocative vocals pervading the underworld, then rhythmic metal and heroic vocal parts duel. There is also a recurring, melancholic saxophone motif, but also a lot of percussive sounds enormously enrich the sound spectrum. To the grand finale, an almost impenetrable number of layers culminate and once again impressively display the fascination of the AENAON sound spectrum.
Please do not be frightened by the initially sheer bursting acoustic avalanche, because after a short time I have appreciated this album very much, because it breaks the boundaries and still does not drift into senseless Prog self-love. Hats off for this bravura tightrope walk!