Metal Bulletin Zine: Aethernaeum

Friday, October 16, 2015

Aethernaeum

Naturmystik

Einheit Produktionen

release date: October 2nd 2015

Alexander Paul Blake, Aethernaeum’s creative force, has two main musical fountains. His other band is the excellent Eden weint im Grab [EWIG] (“Eden Cries in Its Grave”), the long-running masters of imagination metal, a band that is a world unto itself. The two bands are as different as night and day, but they both depend on a certain level of culture and intelligence that is required from the listener: the albums need time to be absorbed due to the sheer quantity of music on each album.

To me, EWIG albums are clouds of long compositions where extreme metal meets creativity and the atmosphere of the supernatural. I do not find EWIG to be weird “experimental” music, but it does require a willingness to let the album play and let it become more familiar with repeated listens. Maybe I enjoy EWIG precisely because the songs matter; it’s not just a bunch of haphazard “experimentation.” EWIG makes sense to me, and it is catchy, too.

Aethernaeum, on the other hand, works more directly with black metal, and the music could be described as uptempo, melodic black metal with folk and classical elements in long compositions. Remarkably catchy and refined, Aethernaeum features prominently the sounds of the cello.

Personally, I consider Alexander Paul Blake, who Metal Archives says is named Sascha Blach, one of the most creative songwriters in all of metal today. So far in his musical journey, he has an impressive discography. He has a great work ethic, that great capacity for making music, and lots of it. Yet, unlike other legendary songwriters that have some limitations, Alexander Paul Blake can do just about everything. In fact, this band began as a solo project called Alexander Paul Blake and released an album in 2012. Then, in 2013, the name changed to Aethernaeum for that year’s album.

Now, here we are in 2015 with a new one. This time around, the music sounds more song-oriented than ever before. (Or, maybe I am catching on faster each time a new album comes out!) If you are the type of listener that, like me, likes all of Moonsorrow’s discography, you should definitely look into this band and the works of Alexander Paul Blake in general. The lyrics are in German, which is awesome. The songs tend to be long, and they have that epic feel. You see, difficult to turn down, right?

Just in case you might find it interesting, below you will find the Alexander Paul Blake discography, as given by Metal Archives.

Alexander Paul Blake: voice, bass, guitar, keyboards, songwriting

Marco Eckstein: guitar

Motte: guitar

Markus Freitag: cello

Hendrik Wodynski: drums

Aethernaeum

Wanderungen durch den Daemmerwald 2013

Naturmystik 2015

Alexander Paul Blake Die Rückkehr ins Goldene Zeitalter 2012

Eden weint im Grab

Traumtrophäen toter Trauertänzer 2004