The peak of human sentience lies within our grasp of perspective in both directions, not only within the microscopy of what microcosmic catalysts pulse within but also in reaching the biggest-yet picture available through macro-level theorem considering the exponential scale and torsion of the known universe. Lovecraftian cosmicism rightfully puts us great apes in our place, a self-important speck of mammalian specialization unimportant to great celestial bodies, our imaginary “gods”, and viral interlopers alike leaving plenty of righteous reason for nihil to interrupt one’s tourism of the known let alone their search for sight beyond. In a relatively outsized format and on a bit of tear through pandemia-adjudicated introspection Toledo, Ohio-based melodic death metal trio Astralborne once again produce anthems in acceptance of the void, sourcing their core inspiration from existential ponderance while celebrating late 90’s Scandinavian melodic death metal’s dramatism and flourish in excess. ‘Across the Aeons‘ does what any sophomore full-length release ought to in that it wastes no time recalling the core inspiration of what came before and iterates upon cadence and form with a wizened and inspired touch for an improved station, establishing a presence which somehow holds fast for nearly a full hour.

Astralborne formed circa 2018 between the frontman for melodeath-core band Blood of the Prophets and key members of vikingr/melodeath band Hammer Horde who’d likewise played together in Forever Lost, a project which seems to be the spark they’ve revived per shared interest in extending the conversation put forth by the late 90’s/early 2000’s melodic death metal explosion; Despite being based in the Midwest states and being collectively inspired by late 90’s Swedish melodic death metal these folks show no real fixation with the United States’ touch on the sub-genre per the whole early 2000’s “melodic death/metalcore” deal and this exception counts for a lot since it makes for a heavy metal record which isn’t so flatly linear in its emotional expression or as literal within its melodic arrangements. In picking and choosing what to take from Gothenburg melodic death metal’s romanticist prose ’til pop-metal uprising they’ve chosen the anthemic spectrum which was still in reach of the fiery bounding of 90’s death metal musicianship coming to terms with heavy metal (versus heavy rock) songwriting, and as such their work reaches for plenty of galloping riffs (“The Pillars of Creation”) and sword swinging guitar leads for its greater landscape. As evidenced by their considerable debut full-length (‘Eternity’s End‘, 2019) the trick to this style is not only guitar-forward sound design but finding the necessary room to breathe within the full album experience. In the case of this follow-up the band-aid solution to an over-active set of performances is to simply extend the length of the album to include all necessary parts of a whole.

In era of ~15 second attention spans and fifth-generation riffless pod-people bands abounding how do they expect to pull the old ways off without putting dummies to sleep? I suppose that is one of the more important points to make in terms of not only the old-is-new demographic but the enduring fandom for this sort of music, all that matters is that the absorptive feeling of the music carries through. Most will approach ‘Across the Aeons‘ rightfully expecting straightforward melodic death metal per the successes found on ‘Eternity’s End‘ which’d focused on leads as the main source of melodic directive and left the major twists of phrase to neatly orchestrated rhythms. Eh, the riffs weren’t necessarily the big draw back in 2019 and to my ear they’ve picked up the standard (which is clearly ‘The Jester Race‘ and nearby) to some degree this time around. In fact if you’re one of the comments section warriors who’d pointed out their passion for In Flames‘ peak-era recordings you’ll find a pretty damned glorious cover of “December Flower” smack dab in the middle of this record, flexing on even my nerd ass with a deeper cut which fits so seamlessly in with the flow of the record at its midpoint that I hadn’t identified it ’til the third or so listen.

Though Astralborne have pursued continuity of form on this second record that shouldn’t suggest they’ve not upped the production values enough to differentiate a bit, sounding a bit warmer and layered-up on these songs with a stronger bass guitar tone. I’d still felt the flop on the bass presence on a few pieces (“Star of Extinction”) though I understand a more percussive tone might detangle their weave away from its clear enough intent. The drums have a bit more of a heft and precision to their double-bass kicks which allows the perceived space to broaden, encapsulating the resonance of guitar harmonies and dual-rhythmic interplay as the centerpiece of all action. While this doesn’t reach back to the cold flatness and pinched-at clangor of classic mid-90’s melodic death production values the way that ‘Eternity’s End‘ did it does read as an improvement. The one gripe I’d launch at this record, and perhaps harsh vocals in modern melodic metal today in general, is the layering of ’em being a bit too beefed without leaving all that much on the table in terms of expression, ralphing low like a distracted tech-death ensemble rather than meeting the energy of the action. The verbose cadence and strong placement of the vocals are prime, though, and this takes it at least a few steps beyond plain function.

If you’d enjoyed the more aggressive side of Majesties‘ debut earlier this year consider the intent of this trio similar in its greater influence while presenting different solutions to personalizing that which is thought of as distinctly Swedish today. The most swung-at aggressive pieces on ‘Across the Aeons‘ call back to older compositions from the Forever Lost days, such as opener “War Vessel“, where the need for quick-changes and circular consonance collide for a rousing start. Harmonies appear at such a rate that they begin to evolve mid-sentence and the thick of each composition might be fairly basic in its woven state but the effect reads in a classic style. Later on down the road “Star of Extinction” pulls us in a similar direction with faster, more biting riffcraft and escalating guitar harmonies which speak the spectacle of the old ways (er, the late 90’s level of indulgence) more directly in my mind and, sure, I could scrub through the twelve pieces on the full listen and find plenty of reasons a long-standing melodic death metal head would enjoy this record. You get the point.

The best songs on ‘Across the Aeons‘ breach the five minute mark and lean into the strain of the moment to help push beyond what many will see as typical melodic death momentum. “Nocturneous” for example lays it all out in terms of expressing the broader range of the album in terms of an all-cylinders firing sort of dynamic complete with shredding leads, a core melodic motif explored, chuggy ‘Colony‘-style verse refrains, acoustic guitar flourishes… all the theatre of peak melodic death metal before it all became standard melodic metal trope. If you don’t appreciate that sort of bluster “Skybreaker” flips the switch toward something more focused and in parsing both it and “Nocturneous” we’ve grasped a sample of what core dynamism is carried through the full listen. It is a beefer of a spin, though, at ~57 minutes there was no real need for the 9+ minute title track or the In Flames cover, though I could just as well argue that this type of excess enthusiasm is both cool to see and fitting per the main inspiration of the band.

Despite naturally hesitating within earshot of most any nowadays melodic death metal band ‘Across the Aeons‘ pulled me in and never truly dropped the ball beyond the whole “too much of a good thing” deal and I’d felt comfortable spending several hours hanging out with its serious-faced heavy metal feeling, admiring the brilliant as always cover from maestro Juanjo Castellano and catching up with some of the lyrical meaning impressed upon these songs. If you stopped listening to melodic death metal in 1995 and can’t stand the bravado that came beyond that point it might not check a certain nostalgic box for your own taste but from my point of view Astralborne have done well to approximate what many consider the peaking burst of the sub-genre and delivered an album worth sinking into for at least a few cycles. A high recommendation.

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