Entry 1514 - Aara - Eiger

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: cold unrelenting mountains

Thoughts: Oh man do these guys know how to write a black metal album. There have been so few bands in the last decade that have written music so consistently and so incredibly well as the enigmatic Aara have. 

After finishing up their trilogy the band has released their longest record to date. They have not only taken the lessons learned during the past few albums but they have expanded on them in directions I did not expect the band to go. Eiger shows all the power and intensity of the past few albums, but it also has this cold calculated precision to each of the songs that fits the theme of snowy mountains and their brutally inhospitable climates perfectly. 

I've said before that Aara play black metal with a death metal intensity to their riffs. There were stand out points during all of the previous albums, however on Eiger it seems like those moments are on every single song. These riffs are as massive as the mountains they depict. They are as brutal as the frostbite that comes from an ill prepared climber. They are as ruthless as an unstoppable avalanche. At moments they are even as tranquil as a gentle breeze blowing undisturbed snow. 

This album is possibly the best thing the band has ever created. The speed at which the band executes these riffs is blistering. The intensity that  Fluss delivers the lyrics is unmatched. Her voice pierces the air like a screeching bird of prey. The drums are so precise and so fast that they sound nearly inhuman. 

To top all this off the album is absolutely greater than the sum of its parts. The lasting effect that these songs have on me is incredible. It's the kind of album that I can close my eyes and get lost in its clutches. 

I've been reflecting on the bands discography the entire time that I've been listening to this album. I think outside of the debut record that this is indeed their finest moment. This is the perfection of the direction that they were taking in the Triade trilogy and adds both more intensity and tranquility to their already refined sound. For fans of black metal this is indeed one of the best releases to come out in the last few years.