Yes, you too, can have fun(??) at a death metal concert! Don’t miss Aether Realm. “Because here’s the deal: Everyone wants to be a rock star. But not everyone can write guitar hooks this heavy,” or so frontman Vincent Jones told the crowd. He wasn’t kidding. Stuff got heavy. Like, really heavy. On many fronts.
By Bryan Ahearn
From the darkness lead Aether Realm singer Vincent Jones emerged on stage, cloaked in a green-sequined jacket, — somehow foreshadowing the dark beauty of the music of Aether Realm that would ensue and ensnare a captivated Denver, Colorado crowd.
And for the next 60 minutes, the audience had no clue how heavy it was about to get–and was up to the task in playing along, in waiting for headlining act Unleash The Archers to take the stage Saturday night at the Marquis Theater.
From their first note, Aether Realm drew from their distinctive death/doom metal sound–executing with flawless precision their weighty and unwavering sound.
“Slave to the Riff” opened, a deafening stomp-fest with yes, an undeniable hook–relentless in urgency, unapologetic in its guttural growls. But hark! What is this? An an folk-style guitar interlude? Aether Realm is anything but your typical doom metal band.
With a lead singer that leans towards the vocal tonality of Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister (RIP, Lemmy!) strewn across lyrical themes of fantasy and mythology, things just started to get…fun(?) with “The Tower” and by “TMHC,” things were getting just outright unexplainably fun. (Yes, I of my basketball shoes and baseball team bandana was now actually having fun listening to death metal, or whatever this was!)
“Cycle,” added an almost a pensive, softer moment, set to keyboard effects: “The light has gone/And I can’t move on,” offset with a brightly-set lead guitars laid down by Heinrich Yoshio and Donny Burbage was downright mezmerizing. Factor in the lighting-quick reflexed drums set forth by Tyler Gresham, and you got the blackest gem of a song possible.
As fun as it was to see a beer-drenched mosh-pit break out to the vicious-sounding “Swampwitch” in a basement-sized venue, the signature moment of the night was “Guardian,” the band’s hit single from the band’s 2020 release Redneck Vikings from Hell.
Guardian is quite possibly, one of the most breathtakingly haunting and beautiful songs you will ever hear in not just the death or black metal genre–but in any genre. There’s something in there that can’t be explained–just felt.
Joined onstage by Seven Kingdom’s Sabrina Valentine, “Guardian” turned into a beautiful duet, balancing the rugged growl of Vincent Jones with the high-gloss power of Sabrina Valentina. It was, a moment–the moment–of the Aether Realm performance that night that left me awestruck.
But as the Aether Realm set was proving, any emotion was possible: from aggression, to beauty, to the energetic and yes, to to unexpected moments of peace…it became evident this band was doing what they do best with their heavy hooks–being rock stars.
Rating: 5/5
Aether Realm Setlist – Denver 9-18-21
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