Review 571 : Ætheria Conscientia – Corrupted Pillars of Vanity – English

Be ready for Ætheria Conscientia journey.

Created in 2016 in Nantes, France, the band is now composed of Tristan Brachi (guitar/vocals, ex-Cosmic Storm), P.A. Cantat (guitar/vocals, ex-Cosmic Storm), Paul Breheret (drums, Ediakara, ex-Cosmic Storm) and Alexis Pascal (bass, Edikara) after Simon Chatteleyn (vocals/saxophone/percussions, Nullentropy, Paupiettes, Enigmatical) leaved, but he still participated to this album. Corrupted Pillars of Vanity, their second full-length, is released in 2021.

What you have to know is that the band infuses its Atmospheric Black Metal with experimental tones, drawn from Prog, Jazz, Blues, but also some futuristic sound universes, which perfectly fits to the story they create. This tale began with their first album, and continues on this one, starting with Asporhos’ Altering Odyssey, the first song. A soft airy introduction begins, quickly followed by the rhythmic that progressively settles in, then a saxophone, fastly hidden by an aggressive saturation and massive howlings. The song is very long, allowing the band to develop its complex universe and to welcome Andrii Pechatkin (White Ward) on vocals, also adding some Post-Black oriented parts to the infernal composition. The song changes atmosphere, tempo, influences and ends with some percussions before leaving for The Corrupted Sacrament. Whether the basis is suffocating, the band’s ethereal and airy influences perfectly fit in this thick steamroller of blackness, allowing to diversify the sound for a sharper output, as well as more chaotic or cheerful moments.
Liturgy for the Ekzunreh is by far the most mystical and darkest song. We find ritualistic oppressive elements, guttural singing and mesmerizing backing vocals, but also this crazy progression and those ethnical percussions, before finding raw howlings. Pure Black Metal elements will be longer to come, but they are still dyed with this characteristic madness, before Absurd Crusade Part I: Elevation in Arrogance. A magical introduction, heady elements, then rage surfaces again, full of darkness. Rhythmic offers a crazy dance with a cheerful pattern, then Dima Dudko (White Ward) joins the band with his alto saxophone. The black waltz continues, still involving more sonorities into a controlled chaos that will progressively slow down before Absurd Crusade Part II: Collapse in Penance. Did you think the previous song was crazy? The band takes the same elements and accelerates the pace, placing only a dissonant break to brutally change the atmosphere for an instrumental part, then a long jerky and catchy final.

Whether you knew or not the first part of the story, Ætheria Conscientia will catch you in their mad dance. Corrupted Pillars of Vanity is a very diversified and rich album, that offers a follow-up to this fantastic story created from scratch by a rising band.

90/100

Version Française ?

Laisser un commentaire