Aesthus/Sieluhaaska/Kaksi liekkiä Saatanalle/Purity Through Fire/2024 Split EP Review

 

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Finland's  Aesthus  and  Sieluhaaska  called  "Kaksi  liekkiä Saatanalle"  which  will  be  released  in  may  by  Purity  Through  Fire  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Aesthus  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  satanic  black  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  bass  guitar  leads  along  with  some  heavier  riffing  a  few  seconds  later.  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  the  music  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  classic  Finnish  style  as  well  as  the  solos  and  leads  going  for  more  of  a  melodic  direction,  during  the  faster  sections  of  their  tracks  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  their  side  of  the  recording  more  of  a  raw  feeling  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  melody.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  and  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  Satanism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Aesthus  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  and  satanic  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Vapaus  ja  Kaaos".

  Next  up  is  Sieluhaaska  a  solo  project  that  returns  with  his  old  school  style  of  Finnish  black  metal.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  mid  tempo  and  old  school  style  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  his  side  of  the  recording.  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody,  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  more  of  a  melodic  direction  and  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  and  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Sieluhaaska  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  Finnish  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Yli  Sielujen  Mustan  Virran".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  Finnish  black  metal.  8  out  of  10.

  www.facebook.com/aesthusofficial 

www.facebook.com/Sieluhaaska  

Aesthus Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Morbus:

Aesthus started as a one-man-project in 2017. At that time I made a few demos with programmed drums that never saw a light of day. But some songs even from that era are included in our debut album re-arranged like ''Tyhjyys, ikuinen kuolema''.

After that I started gather people around the band more or less via internet. After couple line-up changes nowadays Aesthus was born in 2019. Veles (bass) and Nachash (guitar) have been hanging around the longest. Nachash even played drums for some rehearsals when we were still looking for a ''real'' drummer. Then J.A. (drums) contacted me and after that introduced us to his friend Adversa who became the singer.

Nowadays Aesthus is more of a band than just project and everyone in the band brings their own thing to the blend. Even though I'm still the main song-writer we arrange the songs as a band and our other guitarist Nachash has even brought one song to this album ''Jälkeläinen''.

2.In March you have your first full length coming out, musically how does it differ from your previous demo?

Adversa:

The whole sound of our full-lenght is very different compared to demo. Every instrument has very clear sound, and the songs are faster and also more hateful. Everything got well with every instrument and vocals, and we're satisfied to the final result.

Morbus:

Our demo was very ''home-made''. Soundwise it differs a lot from our full lenght, huge thanks to Sammas audio that did a lot work for the mixing, mastering etc. You may hear some similarities to the demo songs and all our music sounds like us but I think Aesthus has now evolved into another level.

3.A lot of your lyrics cover Satanism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the dark arts?

Adversa:

All the lyrics are about my own visions, blasphemy, and how I walk on this path with Satan. Satanism is the most important thing in my life and in music, and it has been part of my life over 10 years. Black flame burns strong and bright in my heart.

Morbus:

Adversa is the main lyricist and songs bring his view into the music.

4.What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored over the years with your music?

Adversa:

Spiritual creation through Devil worship and Satanism are the main topics.  Also death, and rituals have their place in our lyrics. "Tyhjyys, Ikuinen Kuolema" and "Kuolonpolku" are based on my dreams and their main theme is death.

Morbus:

These themes fascinate all of us as a band and Adversa is great putting the idea of the band in lyrical form.

5.The band is also from Finland, musically how do you feel you stand out among the other legendary bands that come from your home country?

Adversa:

Finnish Black metal also is in our roots, which we respect very much, and our music have lot in common with many older and newer bands. We are not trying to invent anything new or abandon our roots. We do exactly what we like. If there is one thing I should mention that I personally find memorable, is the clear articulation of the lyrics, but we still have the blasphemous world of sound added to the melodic and traditional Finnish Black metal.

Morbus:

I make music that sounds good to my ear. At that point I don't think are we this or that. I listen to various types of music and it ofcourse affects in the music I make. Finnish black metal, and black metal in general is ofcourse important to me and is a huge inspiration.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Aesthus'?

Adversa:

The name Aesthus comes from a latin word; Aestus, which means "stream" in English. In my mind, I created a vision around this name. The stream of black flames, which carries you through this life, and gives you the power and knowledge what you need on this path of darkness.

Morbus:

Yeah, that pretty much combines the story. Before this we had ideas for names that literally sucked.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

Adversa:

First of all many thanks to Linda Piekäinen, who created that artwork. The idea to this artwork, just came into my head. It's about the lone wanderer. He's praying on the cliff, seeking for wisdom. Simply, it's about ritual, with the beautiful landscape.

8.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?

Morbus:

We had our debut show coming in November 2020 but I think all can guess the reason why it got cancelled. After that we focused on our debut and now we are looking forward to make some gigs. Some interest for our shows has been there already.

Adversa:

No we haven't done any live shows yet, but we're looking forward to it. Only time will tell, and we hope that this so called pandemia finally gives up, and will let us to start the live shows.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

Morbus:

We've had almost nothing but positive reactions until this day from all over the world. Makes me glad that so many people around the globe are listening us and spreading the plague.

Adversa:

I don't exactly know where these reactions are coming from, but i think most people who likes our music are from foreign countries. When the album is out, we'll see better.

10.Where do you see yourself heading into musically during the future?

Morbus:

Finnish black metal and Finnish melancholy and spirit drives us all. So I think we'll continue the path we've chosen. Evolving, doing our own thing and still sounding like Aesthus. Some more synths maybe used in the future because they sounded pretty good at the ending song of the album.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Adversa:

I don't like to say what bands are my own influences, but many vocalists are. For example Corvus (former vocalist of Horna) and Wrath (former vocalist of Enochian Crescent). But i think 90's black metal is the main influence to our music. My music taste is very wide, and i listen almost everything, but what I listen nowadays is mostly black metal, occult rock, and 80's heavy metal.

Morbus:

Like I said earlier I listen music very widely, like all of us and all that inspires us. Mainly of course black metal and all that, but there's a lot of music genres that I can find something inspiring into my music.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Adversa:

Stay tuned for our new album. Ave Satanas!

Morbus:

Thanks for the interview and the review of our album. Hail Satan!

www.facebook.com/aesthusofficial

Aesthus/Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa/Purity Through Fire/2022 CD Review

 

  Aesthus  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  an  old  school  and  Finnish  style  of  satanic  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2022  album  "Hänen  temppelinsä  varjoissa"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Purity  Through  Fire.

  A  very  heavy  yet  melodic sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  Growls  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  music  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  classic  Finnish  tradition.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  couple  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  clean  playing,  melodic  vocals  and  synths  can  also  be  heard  on  the  closing  song.

  Aesthus  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  melodic,  satanic  and  old  school  in  the  Finnish  tradition.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  Satanism,  Darkness  and  Death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Aesthus  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  old  school  and  satanic  Finnish  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vihani  alttarilla"  "Verta  Saatanalle"  and  "Tyhjyys,  ikuinen  kuolema".  8  out  of  10.

www.facebook.com/aesthusofficial

https://youtu.be/3JJPSyV2hgg