Formed in 2023, Finland's AEDES immediately made their name known in the death metal underground with their debut mini-album, Odius Imprecation, self-released later that very year. The quintet's resume is quite varied - Verge, Foreseen, Rivette, Initiated, and Force Kill are but a few - but with AEDES, the focus is firmly within the wider '90s death metal pantheon. It's not unjust to suggest that the spectre of Morbid Angel looms large over Odious Imprecation; from murky, almost-in-reverse riffing to cyclonic descents into the abyss to leads that are melodic yet mind-melted, the altars are indeed full of madness and the sick are dutifully blessed. Still, this deep understanding of the elder gods extends more to songwriting and texture rather than replication of someone else's glories - and AEDES stir their cauldron with the poise and intention of adepts. Trainspotters might also reference the angularity of '90s Immolation or the "refined barbarity" of Peru's Mortem or especially the truer-than-true Sadistic Intent, but the four songs comprising the 24-minute Odious Imprecation lay out plenty of diabolic terrain on which to tread. And tread further AEDES soon will, for the band are currently preparing their debut album for BLOOD HARVEST!
