A palatial, marbled viewpoint reflects the inner-rotted perspective a dirge through existence allows. — Man’s greatest flaw under the punishing glare of Hekate is the ambition available to the self-assured, those who believe so heartily in a sense of security that they are blindfolded and numbed into in-bred utopian arrogances. The surety of ego, the blindness and obedience necessary for belief, the capacity for miserable addiction and violent destruction, all encompass discomfort and flawed existential dreariness within nine scenes depicting nine unwelcomed souls in tragedian exposition from the introverted mind’s eye of southwestern France-based atmospheric/post-black metal trio Aodon who return with an inspired, cinematic third full-length. A frame-filled and column lined corridor as much as it is a muse upon self-destructive traits, ‘Portraits‘ presents both real and unreal studies of unrepentant human flaws, splayed and tacked down to their sinuous misfortune and ingrained dysfunction as if museum pieces, a showing of the destined-cursed and the defeatist rapture of deterministic outcomes lain neatly ahead for each character. Though there is a narrative built and a structure in mind the Périgueux rooted group are just as well a vehicle for bullet-train sped thought, wells of emotion that boil and spray as they flood down the line in seeming empathetic muse.

Formed circa 2015 by way of musician M-Kha, whom has most often featured as a drummer in various black/death metal groups over the last decade, most all of Aodon‘s music is writ, composed and performed by the artist. The exception comes with the bass and lyrics on most recordings coming from Alix R. and some additional rhythm guitars from Laurent C. starting with the second full-length from the band. Their first release (‘Sharphood‘, 2016) didn’t generate an insane amount of buzz within my own sphere at the time but I’d luckily not missed their follow-up several years later with ‘11069‘ (2020) an album which had me reflecting upon what made sense per the post-black metal tag, which fit in terms of describing a modern form of French extreme metal but didn’t -fit- when I’d reviewed it at the time: “the expressive and intensely active pulse of ‘11069’ is post-black music apart, something richly executed that is neither aping structures and tonality from indie rock nor relying upon jigsaw slices of post-rock standards for invention. I do not hear fealty sworn to old “core”, classic black metal, or any decidedly traditional mindset […] (the album) is stoically modern, a record created without any great service owed for its larger inspiration.” and I would generally suggest that it had been the quick-to-develop and professional grade identity of the band that still perseveres into the slightly more varied abstractions found on ‘Portrait‘. Otherwise there will be no particularly sensical relativity for what they do beyond the general standard of post-black/atmospheric metal influenced presentation and a focus on what I’d consider a modern form of melodic black metal which fans of Uada and Der Weg einer Freiheit will quickly identify with and Harakiri for the Sky fans wouldn’t shy away from, either.

Torn between outward perception and hidden worlds within. — The first impression of ‘Portraits‘ is not initially profound on my part for the sake of staring at album covers for hours each day, though of course the grotesque shot-gun blast sized holes in the bust at the core of this Alex Eckman-Lawn digital collage should give way to some direct meaning between the thin white veneer and the surprising gape beneath, a void which Aodon explores lyrically. They’ve given specific elemental flaws and/or follies attached to each of the nine pieces herein: Misery, ego, addiction, belief, violence, obedience, abuse, destruction and love. All of these pertain to a broader illustration of the human condition and I believe with empathy for the reality that beneath every veneer something quite dramatic is most often amidst or brewing. It is a deeply introspective point of view in the sense that these words suggests a curiosity for the unknown, an investigative quality as well as a world unto one’s own consideration and this pairs beautifully with the sombre yet sprawling reach of Aodon‘s music which is perhaps less prone to chunk and hammer at a piece so much as flow through it this time around.

The forward-thrust and tremolo’d outward momentum of ‘Portraits‘ is probably its most engaging feature, an immersive run-on push through which rarely takes a moment to pause its gliding motion though with ~5 minute pieces on average there is no sense of lost detail or under-served perspective. The determined yet draining tone of opener “Swen” gives us one of the finer examples of this movement at its most fluttering speed which takes a bit of an upward turn as it ends. Glassy yet distant lead guitar tones shape the melodies of the opener which finds discord in-phrase as the ringing-loose modern rock rhythms reinforce a post-black first impression. This is the major voice of the record on some level throughout, leads which chime and surge towards the point much in the way a lot of modern melodic/post-black metal does, particularly the Belgium, Netherlands and German spheres of the last decade. “Egon” is probably the most persistent of the first three pieces on the album in this sense where the disarray of the dizzied leads rings constantly throughout the piece, creating a certain madness as it trails on and off. This presents some reasonable contrast with the other main single, “Mayerson“, which shows structure and riff from a different point of view while still speaking in the same voice per the guitars and rushed pace which both match the intensity of the opener. The opening pieces on ‘Portraits‘ feel linearly set, similar in voice but each intends a different character and in this sense I’d begin to see their work as singular in its narrator.

At that point there will be some stronger variation explored in terms of pacing, much faster and increasingly adept drum performances set alongside sleepier drifts into thought, but pace is the core juxtaposition on display here as the only real modulation readily identified within repeated listens. The full listen begins to feel like a sleepy corridor of tragedy and triumph in evening light where the biggest scenes call for attention within each piece but the cinematic rock language used reads fairly similar at face value. The best example of this is perhaps skipping from “Adam” to “Liza” wherein each has their own modulation in terms of structure but produce a similar effect regardless of where their respective proportions are placed. Don’t get me wrong these are two of the better pieces on the album but I’d soon felt like the greater imprint which Aodon left behind on this full listen was somewhat unflinching in terms of one very complete ~47 minute exploration of continuous space. This is a double-edged proposition in the long run as I’d found ‘Portraits‘ played ridiculously well when left on repeat but didn’t always hold up to moment-to-moment scrutiny in terms of broadly differentiated melodic ideas. An elaborate way of suggesting it works best if you’ve gone in willing and ready to be immersed rather than flustered by riffcraft or unique vocal inflection. There are standout pieces but I’d found the cumulative effect of the album hit best when considering the whole of it rather than the twitch of its innards.

Though the profundity of Aodon‘s work has shifted somewhat in subject and their sound focused on this crystalline atmospheric cinema-scoped motion the overall effect of a full listen to ‘Portraits‘ leaves me with similar feeling as to what I’d felt beyond my time with ‘11069‘, a surreal feeling of listlessness which almost feels obligated to keep the major momentum of the spin going. Ultimately what’d set this one over the edge was its emotionally fueled dramatism which may or may not impress folks who aren’t already open to an atmospheric/post-black adjacent experience set to medium-high bluster. For my taste there is something connective enough here amidst the sweepingly paced ride of it all that I’d found myself returning for an additional listen to ‘Portraits‘ beyond the first. A high recommendation.

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