To end the year on a high note, I offer you a review of one of my favourites of 2021, Black Cosmic Elements, the first album by Aran Angmar.
Black Cosmic Elements was released last spring with the French label Time Tombs Production. So it’s not really a novelty, but if you missed it, I could only advise you to spend some time on it.
This is the debut album by Aran Angmar, a black/death metal trio that came alive during 2019. The band members are no strangers to the metal scene: the vocal parts and some of the bass parts are recorded by Lord Abagor, who officiates in Saille and whom I discovered in Dunkelnacht a few years ago; on drums we find Michiel Van Der Plicht, who also plays drums for Pestilence and who we saw on stage with Carach Angren; as for Maahes, he took care of the guitars and bass, as well as of the production of the album in cooperation with Roberto Priori.
Recorded in Bologna, Italy, Black Cosmic Elements is a rather short album as it contains only seven tracks for about thirty minutes of music. However, the format is perfectly adapted to discover the band and if, like me, you’re not used to black metal, you won’t have time to get bored, just to appreciate it. For my part, I got a slap in the face from the first listen, immediately transported by the melo-dark universe of Aran Angmar. The album starts strong from the beginning with Sovereign which jumps out at you from the first seconds. This track will remain my favourite even after several months of listening. In the middle of the album, Portals To The Universe is a two-minute instrumental interlude that marks a small and quiet pause before picking up a steady pace on the last two excellent tracks: The Scion and Black Cosmic Elements.
In terms of sound, Black Cosmic Elements is a quality record that seems to have been worked on in detail. It’s clean and distinct, each instrument is highlighted, in short nothing pollutes the listening of Aran Angmar‘s occult melodies. Giuseppe Orlando is to be congratulated for the mix and the mastering.
Among the influences of this album, we can mention Dissection, Mayhem or Dark Funeral. Aran Angmar offers a very melodic black/death metal that makes it accessible to a large audience while satisfying the regular fans of the genre. Lord Abagor‘s voice is immediately recognisable and is a perfect match for Maahes‘ fat guitars and Michiel Van Der Plicht‘s many blast beats.
Black Cosmic Elements is therefore one of my nuggets of the year 2021. Aran Angmar has built its own universe through the seven tracks that make up the album. A promising project to keep an eye on.
Enough talking, it’s time to listen. Hold on tight and enjoy!