Aureole are a solo project from Portland, Oregon that has had music reviewed before in this zine and plays an atmospheric form of ambient black metal and this is a review of his 2024 album "Alunarian Bellmaster" which will b e released in February by Lupus Lounge.
Dark soundscapes start off the album along with some ambient style synths a few seconds later which also mixes in with the heavier sections of the songs at times. Vocals are mostly grim yet high pitched sounding black metal screams along with the music also having its atmospheric moments and some of the tracks are also very long and epic in length.
Melodies can also be heard in some of the guitar riffing while the solos and leads are also done in a very melodic style. At times the music also captures a very lo-fi atmosphere along with some programmed beats also being utilized quite a bit throughout the recording, spoken word parts can also be heard briefly and the whole album also sticks to a slower direction and the closing track is an ambient instrumental.
On this recording Aureole takes ambient and atmospheric black metal and mixes them together to create a very diverse recording as well as keeping everything slow and minimalistic. The production sounds very dark and raw while the lyrics are a concept album and covers grimdark fantasy and science fiction themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Aureole and if you are a fan of ambient and atmospheric black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Alunarian Ghosts Of Bellmaster" "Orbiting Around Alunarian Ruins" and "Alunarian Surrender". 8 out of 10.
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