Review by Jeger on August 28, 2024.

The mystique surrounding black metal is still alive and well within hallowed soil - the underground - furthermore, the ever-fertile Finnish black metal underground where occultism, mysticism, Satanism, and drunkenness inspire hordes of multitalented artists and even real-life occult practitioners whose sole purpose in the creation of black metal is for it to be as a conduit for dark energy. Finnish soil has spewed forth a canopy of artful, but also of raunchy influences over the past 35 years from the bastardized Impaled Nazarene to the prodigious Werwolf (Satanic Warmaster) and the occult-inspired Horna. New bands emerge at an even flow all the time and me? Loving every fucking second of it… 

Imagine if death was absent… Imagine if it wasn’t right around the corner waiting for you, as you run from the very thought of it every… damned… day. Would you take your time? How would you live knowing there was enough time for everything under the sun? What if another life does await? What if there was a passageway through the contrast between dusk and dawn into the heart of the night you once knew? A way into where things, weighty things like fate and destiny somehow radiate through everything and into Space under the glare of silver moon. The sound of TRUE, melodic Finnish black metal to guide you. On September 13, 2024, worldwide, Finland’s Aethyrick will release Death Is Absent via EAL Productions. 

This is why black metal is important. This is why black metal is intangible. This is why black metal is great… You can feel it, and if it hits right, it’s almost like being young again. Anxiously awaiting each passage as you once so eagerly anticipated each day and the promise of excitement coursing through every passing second. The melody takes you to joyous places and you don’t wanna think about it too much because you don’t wanna break the spell. Death Is Absent - six enchantments of nightly proportions and just sounding too sweet. Racing into the experience during the opening track, 'The Fire That Sires The Sun', as surging tremolo riffs carry you into the heart of the action: ethereal synth atmospherics, galloping rhythms, and ghastly curses. A real escape from it all. No artist has ever tolerated reality and albums like this one are a true testament to that truth. 

Playing this music live would ruin it. This is to be taken in private, a sacred experience where total immersion is possible and you can feel the music like you did the very first time you listened to black metal. On that lonesome eve, remember? It hit you at heart level, something like the titular track to this record - the momentum of it like the recklessness of youth and the melody of it like your first lay. Mystical black metal to inspire late-night adventures or the creation of art. 

Like sands through the hourglass. If you could somehow listen close enough to hear each one as it clinked through in rhythm, it would sound like the cadence to 'Only Junipers Grow On My Grave'. A somber epic and an ode to passing on into states of being unimaginable; leave it all behind and let the junipers memorialize your spirit. The gentle sound of piano and a horsedrawn funeral procession to etch into stone another brilliant Finnish black metal album. A mystery duo from some dark and desolate Suomi Vill, somewhere where winter’s night knows no end and only imagination keeps you from losing your mind. Death Is Absent: a journey through time, a vision of the afterlife, and a celebration of the night. A fresh take on black metal but with a cozy and familiar sound. Raising the Suomi flag high here and for the melody, for the melancholy, and for the mystification of the hordes. Here’s to true Finnish black metal. Here’s to Aethyrick…

Rating: 9.5 out of 10