Aesthetic Death

[despite being released almost three years ago, yet because of its ingenious character…]

The term ‘yaldabaoth’ refers to a false deity, or a demiurge, imagined as a serpent-shaped entity with a lion’s head, who captures spirits within physical bodies. It’s a gnostic terminology that focuses on man’s faith and salvation, searching for the balance in between knowledge and self-betrayal. I can go on about this matter, but I’d like to focus on a release by a project with the very same moniker and their album That Which Whets The Saccharine Palate.

[review for ‘an older’ release, but once again: so what?! It is never too late to focus on intriguing Aural Art, even after a couple of years after an actual release date]

I did express my adoration for Aesthetic Death - and the sympathetic guy behind this label - a hundred times before. I won’t go too deep into this English label’s fabulous existence this time. But here’s a review on another excellently chosen release, being a split in between two semi-Arctic entities. And I admit that this deals (once again) with an older release, but then again: so what?! Indeed (grim-looking smiley included)…

In all honesty, I have seen this duo growing and growing throughout their time at the Aesthetic Death offices. I did not dislike Nightmare Painting at all, but I did ‘miss’ something essential. With Hallucinations, I enjoyed the important step forward enormously. But as from the last album, Decadent Luminosity, I was convinced about the impact Haiku Funeral have on my open-minded state-of-mind (for what it’s worth).

I am not sure whether I can call Funeral Chasm a side-project of Above Ravens, but this new entity was formed in early 2020 by two members of this fine yet truly underestimated Pagan act from Danish soil. String-virtuoso Morten ‘Sjaelepest’ Lund and Danny ‘Woe’ Jönsson (voices and lyrics, drums and percussion, synths and piano, programming / sampling, additional string-work) (also known from e.g.

I did deeply adore the former albums Inner Sanctum and Ectoplasm by Suffer Yourself, a project from Poland, no, Ukraine, or is it Sweden? No, seriously, Suffer Yourself was formed a decade ago by Stanislav ‘Hardman’ Govorukha, originating from the Polish side of the Carpathian mountains, but who moved over to Kyiv a while ago. At that time, he was the sole musician under this outfit’s moniker.

(another older release, once again deeply deserving any additional support, going for both the band as well as the label involved!!!)

Some might recognize the name of Ryan Scott Fairfield from his activities in Terrible Old Man / Toxic Cross, but he used to be the guy behind Hallowed Butchery as well. ‘used to be’? Well, no no no, for Hallowed Butchery apparently have not faded away yet into the one true reality, death. It took a decade or so, but this project resurrected from oblivion with a new pièce d’art sonorique, called Deathsongs (From The Hymnal Of The Church Of The Final Pilgrimage).

Once again Aesthetic Death come up with a psychedelic thing, but once more it is not just ‘another psychotropic event’ going on, yet another unique, open-minded sonic session. This time Stu and his crew focused on the release of a split in between two acts from Russian soil, Megalith Levitation and Dekonstruktor. A small introduction might be of resignation.

Hecate or Hekate was a goddess originating from the Anatolian region, also divinized by the ancient Greeks. She was a goddess of magic, witchcraft, natural medicine knowledge, birth, spiritualism, you know, an important entity for sorcery, necromancy, health and death. This mythological figure has been a huge source of inspiration for several religious and artistic trends, and she appears a lot within the darker currents of the musical spectrum too.