Aexylium pull out all the stops in their latest release filled with heavy riffs, pounding rhythms, beautiful and guttural vocals, traditional instruments, epic choirs and a majestic, epic feel to the songs on The Fifth Season.
The folk metal band Aexylium hails from Varese, Italy and dates back to 2014. From the early days of the band they have played many well-known festivals across Europe and were even chosen as finalists in the European Celtic Contest. During these festivals, the band has shared the stages with the likes of Elvenking, Wind Rose, Nervosa, Furor Gallico, Temperance and more. The band’s first self-produced ep, The Blind Crow, was released in 2016 and the first full length from the band, Tales from this Land, was released in 2018, which was well received by the listening public. As a further honor, in 2020 the band was chosen by the city of Milan to perform at the Castello Sforzesco. The Fifth Season was recorded at Twilight Studio by Davide Tavecchia and refers to a potential future where humans have depleted earth’s resources causing a neat total extinction, with lyrics inspired by Norse Mythology.
As one might expect from a folk metal album, The Fifth Season starts out with a bit of a prelude in the opening of “The Bridge” and then launches full on into a heavy fast guitar riff punctuated by pounding drums. Guttural vocals are the first thing to greet the listener as the song progresses and the traditional instruments are layered in perfectly to accent the guitars and drums and lend an epic feel to the song. Granted the guttural vocals may not be for everyone and I much prefer the more beautiful, transcendent female vocals elsewhere on the album but I get why they are here. The choir is expertly inserted and the variety of backing instruments really bring the song to life. The band has previously covered the Game of Thrones theme song and one can almost hear something similar here in the music.
“Mountains” opens with a lone piano setting a softer overall tone for the song and again, the variety of other instruments in the song really bring it to life. Arianna Bellinaso’s vocals are hauntingly beautiful and contrast well with the guttural male vocals. With as many band members as are on this album, one might expect songs to be overly long but Aexylium has kept things really tight even when allowing for instruments from various instruments like violin, flute, and guitar all in “Mountains”.
Interestingly, things are never entirely predictable on the album. After a couple of songs opening with more of a traditional instrument feel , “Immortal Blood” comes along and starts out like a regular metal song and keeps that general feel throughout although there are strong contributions from violins. The growled, deep guttural vocals take the song in a bit of a different direction than one would expect given the brighter nature of the music, but even those not a fan of the vocals may begin to not really notice given the strength of the composition and arrangement. Later in the album ,”Yggdrasil” opens with a similar heavy guitar riff before being joined by the other instruments and choir. The verse sections are filled with the dark, guttural vocals and guitars and broken up nicely by the flute and other instruments.
“Vinland” is the first song to open much like I would expect on a folk metal album. Violin takes the lead and punctuated by guitars and drums coming in, with the drums eventually galloping off at fast pace. Vocals this time are not the guttural, but more of a shouted, somewhat ragged and the song itself highlights some great bass fills and has that epic, “get the crowd moving and shouting” feel often found in songs by bands like Wind Rose. The chorus is ridiculously catchy and brilliant and the quieter interlude with mandolin leading into a faster guitar-driven section makes the song.
If you only listened to the title track, “The Fifth Season” you might not figure until after the first verse this is folk metal as the song is heavily driven by guitar riffs, bass, and drums to that point. Arianna Bellinaso comes in later in the song for a vocal contrast and the band breaks the song down instrumentally to rebuild it with the folk metal only to then shift back and forth between power and folk metal.
Aexylium do manage to include a couple of instrumentals on the album and they are by no means just filler. “An Damhsa Mór” is the first of the instrumentals and has a distinct Celtic feel to it with the flute and violin playing what might turns into a folk-dance song that eventually has subtle backing from the bass and drums and is certainly a catchy tune. “On the Cliff’s Edge” is the second instrumental and closes out the album. Flute and violin dominate the overall melody of the song which also features a number of the other traditional instruments joining in to provide a backdrop.
Aexylium have created an incredible example of what folk metal can be. Production quality and mixing become critical with so many musicians being involved and the talent of the musicians and skill in songwriting and arrangements are on full display. The Fifth Season takes the listener on a journey through an epic, majestic landscape that in one sense will feel familiar as folk metal often does, but the twists and turns in the songs and the variety in the compositions and arrangements keep things fresh and interesting for the listener.
Rating: 9/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- The Bridge (featuring Samuele Faulisi)
- Mountains (featuring Arianna Bellinaso)
- Immortal Blood
- Battle of Tettenhall
- Skål
- An Damhsa Mór
- Yggdrasil
- Vinland
- The Fifth Season (featuring Arianna Bellinaso)
- Spirit of the North
- On the Cliff’s Edge
Band Members
Steven Merani – Vocals
Fabio Buzzago – Guitar / Backing Vocals
Andrea Prencisvalle – Guitar
Gabriele Cacocciola – Bass
Matteo Morisi – Drums
Stefano Colombo – Keyboards / Accordion / Backing Vocals
Federico Bonoldi – Violin
Leandro Pessina – Flutes / Bouzouki / Mandolin
Guest musicians
Samuele Faulisi (Atlas Pain) – vocals
Arianna Bellinaso – vocals
Coro Facolta di Musicologia Vocal Ensemble – Choirs
Release Date: October 29th. 2021
Record Label: Rockshots Records
For more info:
Aexylium.it
Facebook.com/aexylium
Instagram.com/aexylium_official
https://sptfy.com/5y1a
Aexylium.bandcamp.com
Video for ‘The Fifth Season’
Lyric Video For ‘The Bridge’
Video for ‘Mountains‘
