Year: 2020
Total Time: 44:19
Label: ONOS Desperate Persistent Artists
AHERUSIA is a remarkable band from Hellas (Greece). They started their career as a Folk/Black Metal band, however in every album they’ve been creating their own music identity, while maintaining their roots (sound wise) by adding elements from the Hellenic traditional music and European folk music. Every album is different from the previous one as they always managed to impress us with the high artistic quality of their releases. The truth is that in 2020 we can’t consider AHERUSIA as a Black Metal band anymore, their sound is now closer to Folk/Pagan Metal. So, 3 years after their masterpiece “Prometheus: Seven Principles On How to Be Invincible” AHERUSIA return with their new album ” NOCTOC~ An Answer(?) ” and they are impressing us again.
In “NOCTOC ~ An Answer (?)” AHERUSIA take a high risk by covering songs from our Hellenic tradition. The compositions are also placed in such an order on the album as if they are telling us a story. Note that in some songs AHERUSIA have kept the original orchestrations, while in the rest they have written the music, also the album has been recorded live and the result sounds more direct. We must also mention that the choral parts have been sang by the actors of AHERUSIA’s theatrical play.
The final result musically is great and quite intense emotionally. The guide throughout the album is AHERUSIA’s characteristic guitar sound which manages to combine optimally their personal musical identity with the unique character of traditional songs. They manage to travel us back in time, inside the stories they tell us. As I said before, the album creates a variety of emotions depending on the song you hear.
In “Αγρίμια” song will drift from the war feeling and the rhythm, as the lyrics refer to the Cretans who resisted Venetian occupation in the rugged Cretan mountains. Ιn “Έρι Πάλι” you will be very hard to resist the melodies and the heroic rhythm of the song, it will dominate you like the pirates of Psara island dominated in the waters of Antalya, In “Παιδιά της Σαμαρίνας” you will feel the pain of the dying hero, while in the “Έχε γεια Καημένε Κόσμε” considering the sacrifice of women in Souli will thrill you by the choice of death in order not to be sold in the slave markets by the Turkish invaders.
AHERUSIA always had a special relationship with our Hellenic tradition and in “To NOCTOC ~ An Answer (?)” this is even more intense! In their new record the band sound original away from musical stereotypes and invite us to follow them on this artistic journey full of tension and emotions. Pain, nostalgia, heroism, love, memories, and an internal reflection on what is home and when we are looking for.
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: AHERUSIA – Facebook Page
