Customer Reviews

Bleeding the False

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3 star:		(1)
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With the rise to international status of bands such as Behemoth, Belphegor, and, perhaps to a lesser degree, In Battle, we have begun to see blackened death metal played with a euro-twist of the most brutal order entering the underground mainstream, and leaving an indelible mark at that. Aeon features the same drummer of In Battle's "Welcome to the Battlefield", so it is not at all surprising that Bleeding the False abounds with relentless groove-oriented speed and technical musicianship. These Swedish satan-worshiping madmen have demonstrated that it is indeed possible to follow up an ep of such excellence as 2001's Dark Order. I must make mention of the recording job on Bleeding the False. If you've heard In Battle's aforementioned album you'll be familiar with the production, although improvements have been made. While WTTB featured an excellent clean yet heavy production, the guitars were thin at times and, for my tastes, overly produced. On Bleeding the False, however, the guitars have an organic crunch that messhes will with the 'dirtier' drum production, both large steps up from In Battle's album.

Dare I say flawless? I'm hesitant to say yes only because an album of this dimension (48 minutes) needs a bit more time than usual to digest. Nevertheless, I feel confident enough to say it is one of 2005's top albums, potentially number one.

Enjoy disquietingly satanic Death Metal, played with a delightful european accent and devilishly fast time signatures? I implore you; check out this album.

This is definitely the most brutal release of the year, if not ever. These guys don't let go until the album's over. If anything, I would describe them as a mix of Behemoth's vocal style and technicality and Deranged's crushing brutality. If you like intense death metal you need to get this.

"Bleeding the False" is an ultra evil-sounding monster of an album. The musical arrangements form a wall of impenetrable sound which is more brutal than any form of torture, the vocals are bellowed, and the subject matter could have been written by Satan himself. But so friggin' what?! All of those characteristics are a dime a dozen in death metal nowadays. There is absolutely no innovation or originality of any kind on any of these songs (save the last track, a painful country music/acoustic remix of an earlier song). Granted, the music on here is quite impressive, and the rhythm section (which consists of crushing and precise riffs, very technical blast beats, and catchy, jackhammer rhythms) makes this album listenable. But the singer is just another knucklehead bellowing in a very Deicide-esque vocal style, and the lyrics are so terrible, they're laughable! Some bands (e.g. Marilyn Manson) creatively, subtly, and intelligently slip Satanic themes into the lyrics; but Aeon is not one of those bands. Vocalist/lyricist Tommy Dahlstrom couldn't be more one-dimensional or contrived, and somebody needs to explain the "beating a dead horse" analogy to him. "Morbid Desire to Burn" features the cliche line "together we are...six six six"...fast forward... "Forever Nailed" says there will never be a second-coming of Jesus...fast forward..."Doorknocker" contradicts that song, because it describes how the band want Him to come back (so they can re-kill Him)...fast forward..."Bow Your Head" is an honest-to-goodness love letter to the Devil (yeah, you heard me!)...fast forward one more time..."God Gives Head In Heaven" is a song about a self-explanatory topic. If you're death metal newcomer, you'll probably be blown away by "The Bleeding False." Everybody else, however, will probably think these guys just need to get a life.