Review by Vladimir on August 17, 2024.

Ever since I gazed into the majesty of Moribund, the debut album of the International black metal band In Aphelion, it was pretty much a non-stop listening almost throughout the entire year of 2023, and I just couldn’t help but constantly praise the amazing riffs and melodies that Sebastian Ramstedt integrated flawlessly in the band’s songwriting. It obviously made me become even more addicted and interested in the band, and one could wonder if it’s remotely possible to top that performance with their follow-up album. Come the year of 2024, In Aphelion has announced their grand return with the second full-length album Reaperdawn with a release date of August 9th via Century Media Records. The album was brilliantly teased with three pre-released singles, but when I first heard their second single 'A Winter Moon's Gleam', that’s when my interest peaked and my expectations became even bigger every time I listened to that song on repeat. Was it worth the wait? Feel free to traverse into the Reaperdawn and find out for yourselves… 

After entering 'The Fields In Nadir', and wandering off into the new dark world that In Aphelion forged with its master-crafted black metal, that’s when you realize that you fully immersed yourself into the death-defying glory of Reaperdawn. A lot of the songs on here absolutely dominate with their energetic performance, packed full of superb tremolo riffing riffs, powerful melodies, dynamic and tight drumming, amped up by the harsh screaming vocals of Sebastian Ramstedt which add even more edge to the music. What is evident in the music apart from the epic and melodic black metal elements, are the heavy metal influences in the style of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, alongside the thrash metal influences coming from early Slayer and notable Teutonic bands like Destruction, Sodom and Kreator, all of which play a big role in the musical DNA of In Aphelion, with an approach that is similar to other notable Swedish acts like Dissection, Watain, and the latest Necrophobic. Once again, no matter how many times I listened to the hit single 'A Winter Moon's Gleam', that song still hits so goddamn hard like a jackhammer to the skull that it’s just impossible to get enough of it. If this is your first time hearing the song, then you surely must have figured out by now that you are going for one hell of a joyride that will take you to such places you haven’t experienced before. The further it progresses, the more intense things become by every second, especially when you get to 'They Fell Under Blackened Skies', because from then on you are pretty much traversing into even crazier realms that the band introduces along the way. There’s no denying that this album has a very strong macabre atmosphere and story-driven quality that just doesn’t stop with its sinister delivery, especially because it successfully keeps you on edge with its suspense to constantly follow along as it goes. One of the greatest aspects of Reaperdawn is the fact that every time you think that things just can’t get any better, that’s when it proves you wrong by striking harder than ever with its scythe and then conquering the moment by completely stealing the show. Where this album won me over from the get-go is the strong element of surprise, because from beginning to end it kept surprising me with all the things that the songs throw at you, be it some awesome riff, fantastic melody or brilliant guitar solo, which showcase what brilliant songwriters and masterminds stand behind the curtains of In Aphelion, apart from the fact that they are all excellent and experienced musicians. Even when you reach halfway through the album, the songs will still burn with the aggressive flame, while some songs burn twice times higher by sinking their jaws deep in your skin like a pure lycanthropic whoreson. Once you get to the finale with the last track 'Aghori', you realize that this album was like a chapter-by-chapter build-up to a grand climax, especially because the conclusion really brings such a grand sense of closure to this magnificent chapter by fading into black. 

In Aphelion’s songwriting is stronger than ever before, with its excellent dynamic song structures full of progression and complexity, which succeed at keeping it clean and interesting all the way through. I must say that I was very curious to know whether Reaperdawn could possibly top the performance of its predecessor Moribund, but now looking back at everything that I’ve said, I think it’s pretty clear how things turned out. Reaperdawn truly feels like a sequel that beats the original, which is essentially very faithful to the original but still incredibly strong on its own, particularly due to delivering even more banger tracks that could be classed as black metal hits. The three pre-released singles really did a great job at teasing this fantastic beast, but I have to say that this album did even better by surpassing all expectations by delivering more than one could have hoped for, especially because there was no instance where I could exactly predict what was going to happen in a song, or how the album as a whole would turn out. When it comes to a genre such as black metal, it’s very easy to become a victim of predictable songwriting, or template-based songwriting, because a lot of them would base an album around one song and then follow that pattern, but luckily this was never the case of In Aphelion, because even though there is strong stylistic consistency and an even flow of heaviness on both Moribund and Reaperdawn, it’s still successfully keeps everything on a high level, which is executed so well that it could be considered flawless. Pretty much everything that was brought to the table turned out to be effective, because every riff, every melody, every solo, and every verse or chorus serves its purpose, which is seldom seen with a lot of other modern black metal acts that come nowhere near with what they offer. Seriously, considering how strong the material is on the entire album, it’s impossible to not feel engaged and entertained along the road, especially how it performed like a wild roller coaster that didn’t slow down even when it was nearing the end. Apart from the amazing songwriting that dominates throughout the entirety of Reaperdawn, the sound production is also excellent with its top-notch sound that provides a bit of rawness to the mix, while still ending up being of high quality. 

Sweet mother of all things unholy! I have to say that this was perhaps one of the most brilliant journeys I have witnessed after so many months of sweating with anticipation. Reaperdawn is an “all killer no filler” masterwork of Swedish black metal that successfully spread its demonic wings even more so than before. Long have I awaited this majestic beast to come out of its cage and now that I have finally heard it, I must say that I am both pleased and astonished by the excellent highly driven performance of In Aphelion. If you enjoyed their previous album Moribund, then stop wasting your time and go check out Reaperdawn right now, because I guarantee that it will make you bang your head harder than ever before, and then leave you perfectly satisfied as it ends on a high note. 

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Review by Michael on July 16, 2024.

Well, what could be better than lying by the pool in Spain, having a cold beverage and just relaxing? If you guessed - listening to the new In Aphelion while having a cold beer - you are correct. I remember getting the demo back in 2021 and being totally flashed from the stuff Sebastian Ramstedt and friends did on that. Next step forward was the EP Luciferian Age and with their first full-length Moribund they stepped out of the shadows of the almighty Necrophobic that hung like a thick fog over the bands name. Actually ¾ of the band is also engaged here, namely Johan Bergebäck on rhythm guitar, Tobias Christiansson on bass and Sebastian Ramstedt. Together with Marco Prij on drums, who is also drumming for Dutch Cryptosis, it turned out to be a very lethal quartet, I would say. So now in 2024, two years after the glorious debut album they found a new label with Century Media Records and here we go with Reaperdawn.

Apart from the label change the style also changed at least a little bit. Where Moribund had a more death metal approach, I would state that In Aphelion has chosen a more blackish way here with much more melodic elements. So this album as a whole is much more accessible and appears more from one mould. With 'When All Stellar Light Is Lost' and 'A Winter Moon's Gleam' they already released two songs and when they came out, I was pretty floored because they are really both overwhelming. Why? Well, first of all because they are quite different from that what they did before. As I said, the melodies are much more in the foreground and so is the black metal sound. Okay, here and there some Necrophobic is shining through but what came to my mind was Bathory. Not the evil albums like “The Return” but the Viking ones like “Twilight Of The Gods” and “Hammerheart” with all their epic and majesty. So far to the melodies in the songs. But of course, they are far much heavier than Bathory with the low-tuned guitars and the thunderous drumming. And Sebastian's vocals still sound as grim and ghoulish as on the previous releases. 

But apart from the epic ones are some more mid-tempo paced stompers to find, too. 'The Darkening' is a grim song with a lot of catchy parts that lives from its breaks and nice double-bass attacks here and there. Lyrically it deals with war (at least that's what I guess) and so comes the song along – like a huge war horse trampling down all the enemies that cannot flee. 'Further From The Sun' (which I guess refers to the bands´ name which means the furthest point of a planet or other stellar objects from the sun can have) is another slower track with a quite interesting beat. This one has a lot of drama in it – lyrically you literally can feel the loneliness and coldness when you metaphorically have reached the most distant point of what is your home, warms you and keeps you alive but also in the musical arrangements. There are some really cool guitar solo in it that show once more what a great composer Sebastian Ramstedt is. With 'Reaperdawn' they have a black n´roll song combined with much speed on the album. The chorus is outrageoussly ass-kicking and spreads a lot of Motörhead atmosphere. I read that the main composer lately listened to that band so that might be no coincidence.

So to tighten things a little bit more – Reaperdawn hat turned out to be a really incredible album (and I haven't even talked about all tracks in detail here). This one is even more coherent than its predecessor and I wouldn't be surprised if In Aphelion will get much more attention after the release. I can only hope that they will find some time to do some touring and not do some single festival gigs so you'll find the opportunity to check them out in person.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 Reaperdawns