As with the IRISH NOISE! Reviews, we’re not limiting ourselves to just random tracks for the Hellfire series. Today for example, we’ve been listening to Shardborne’s ‘Aeonian Sequence’ EP which was released last year as a free download or very nicely priced €5 CD. These guys have been around for almost ten years so we won’t treat them as newbies and neither should you. This EP screams experience, a fined craft for traditional Celtic folk metal and a powerful skill and writing very soothing, involved tracks.
Opening with the fantastic ‘B141’, it doesn’t immediately click that these guys are an instrumental band. Unlike some, they don’t go down the old road of basically writing a normal verse/chorus job and just forget to advertise for a singer. B141 is a mix of fast guitars, heavy drumming and swoops, loops ‘n’ changes. This feel is carried on in second track ‘Deimos’ which pushed both the bands lighter side, with soothing brides, un-intruding guitar leads and waves before the mighty backdrop of drums and riffs trounce in; paving the way for the bleak ‘Aeonian Sequence Pt.1 – Societies Collapse’. Metal military drumming, chaos, sings of strength and aggression all pour into one of this track with the odd moment of computer jazz confusion and emptiness with the lead guitars acting as the protagonist and the wall of sound the antagonist. The jazz moments play Charlie Chaplin.
‘Pt.2, Enduring’ carries on the assault with heavier riffs, more poignant guitar leads and even a touch of romance. This isn’t a song, it’s a full blown stage production with characters, stories and emotion. An excellent piece of music from start to finish that could be amazing in a live setting with KISS’s budget. If you haven’t heard them, check out their Soundcloud and download this. Even if you don’t like instrumental music, I can guarantee you’ll hardly notice and by the time you reach Aeonian Sequence Pt.1 & 2, you’ll be sold. Excellent find! Long live Limerick metal!
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