Review by Felix on November 16, 2023.

A fantastic artwork is always a good thing and the one of Aara new full-length screams for the vinyl format. Yet even the best cover is not crucial for the quality of an album and in terms of music, Aara do not fail, but they also do not reach the class of their cover. Their melody lines design broad pictures, while the extremely distorted voice sets a contrast. The mix of these components is not a new stylistic device and it works sometimes better and sometimes worse. This is true in general as well as with Aara in particular. Some of the melodies are convincing, others are beaten into nirvana by a nervous, hectic drummer, for example in the opener. Somehow these guys are experts in suffocating the possible flair of their own melody lines. Triade III: Nyx never sounds kitschy or sticky, but a little less drama (as well as a slihtly more natural voice) would have been advisable at times. For example, the spheric keyboards in the first part of 'Moribunda' create a pretty dubious atmosphere. This track has its best moments whenever the keyboards do not disturb.

However, Aara are definitely able to lend their songs an interesting atmosphere from time to time. 'Unstern' with its short sacral elements demonstrates this very well and, by the way, its unrelenting parts are pretty impressive, too. Especially this song profits from the dense production. It is a bit polished and appears very modern, nevertheless it is still a good and powerful one. Bad tongues could blame it for sterility, but in my humble opinion, the sound is neither too clean nor soulless. Just don't expect the freezing coldness of some (Scandinavian) underground releases.

My personal highlight is 'Des Wanderers Traum'. Despite its nearly romantic name (“Dream of the Wanderer”), it does not house dreamy tones. Instead, a fiery, perfectly flowing song reveals its might. The guitars have enough space to leave their flavour by forming fantastic lines, the single parts go hand in hand and the emotional ending sets the final exclamation mark. Those of you who like the big pictures of bands such as Winterfylleth will enjoy this piece and probably the whole album wholeheartedly. The Swiss formation has potential and I am sure that they have put heart and soul into this release. However, I cannot say that I feel the spirit of black metal when listening to this full-length. Therefore I am not fully convinced of Triade III: Nyx, in particular in view of the gargantuan number of Aara’s competitors in the global scene.

Rating: 6.3 out of 10