Review Summary: The essence of melodic death metal
Every once in a while an album comes out from the underground that truly must be heard. Aesmah's new work
Walking off the Horizon is one such album. Forming in 2009, the band has come a long way to make their first full length statement. The band's releases in 2009 and 2012 showed plenty of promise but were hampered by some questionable production and at times, sporadic songwriting. Now in 2020, Aesmah has finally revealed what they consider to be their debut full length album, and it's clear they've done what it takes to make this the best offering they could muster.
Walking off the Horizon seems wholly intent on embodying the best features of melodic death metal. The soft sections that occur as a lesser or greater focus in every song bring to mind melodeath giants Insomnium. And the punchy staccato riffs that populate every track bring to mind the riffing of Be'lakor. The overall tone of the record is the introspective and contemplative stuff of classic melodeath. The overall sound the band employs is devoted to the songwriting. Choruses are excellent but it's everything in between that really elevates this. The boldly explosive riffs are likely the most attention grabbing aspect, and my personal favorite, but they are used just as much as a songwriting tool as they are a defining feature. Soft sections occur frequently, giving the album a meditative feel. Guitar solos occur from time to time, but come off more like an extra expansive melody rather than something cheap to dazzle the listener. Lead guitars are more often happy to provide thoughtful melodies that effortlessly add to the backbone of tracks. Melodies created by guitars, keyboards, or electronic elements create a rich, lush, and ever shifting soundscape that is sure to please the attentive listener. Electronic elements are not used in a way that creates a genre hybrid, but in a way that shows the band using those elements to lean into the ultra melodic side of the spectrum at specific moments. The atmospherics on display create an interesting dichotomy between hard hitting metal and deep emotion.
With sixty nine minutes of material, and songs averaging over six and a half minutes in length, it's important that each song has it's own unique identity and it doesn't take long to realize the quality here. Consider the opening salvo of
Quartz pt. 1 and
2; a certified banger that seems for a moment to be devolving into a typical post-rock influenced ending before slickly reprising the verse riff in halftime, the first sign of the level of composition the album aspires to. Or the track
Emerald Visions, with a midsection that enters into a brooding acoustic jam before erupting into one of the album's most shrewdly volatile moments.
Nameless Echoes becomes such a riff factory, all done with such effortless pacing and grace, that it reaches a level of bewilderment. The over ten minute epics don't pad out their length with long intros or ambiance, instead consistently offering complex song structures and arrangements. The decidedly encouraging opening passages of the twelve minute
Feeding the Eclipse may be my favorite moment of the album. Every song is fleshed out to it's proper conclusion and they invite numerous repeated listens to enjoy the dynamics on display.
Melodic death metal is a genre I love for its duality. The duality of complex soundscapes and performances that aren't wildly technical on an individual basis. The multitudinous duality of emotions that convey encouragement, heartache, beauty, love, hardship, perseverance, and the ephemeral nature of life. The duality of simultaneous grandiosity and heartfelt understanding that singular passages and songs are so adept at conveying. But perhaps the best duality is its ability to convey all of this while simply rocking your face off at the same time. Sometimes the genre doesn't employ enough heavy riffage, sometimes the songwriting can lose focus due to ambition, and sometimes it may suffer from sounding like trite, lesser recreations struggling to imitate the great works; but none of that is the case here. Aesmah has hit the sweet spot between reverence for the classic sound of the genre and the freshness that makes listening to Aesmah a distinctly rewarding experience.
Walking off the Horizon is not just an obvious must hear for genre enthusiasts, but a golden opportunity for newcomers looking for a shining and pure example of what melodic death metal has to offer.
