‘Death Is Absent’ offers six epic songs curated with mid-paced and fast drumming sections driving the songs into a more melodious riffing. The opening song ‘The Fire That Sires The Sun’ gives you a feeling of a dark procession though the fast blasting of the drums before it draws your mood into the vast landscapes of the tremolo picked riffs.

Aethyrick infuses grand and majestic black metal riffage with crashing cymbals entering the composition and the slow mid-paced riffing coming under the mournful howls of the vocals. The album’s breadth of atmosphere is built with synthesizers and piano passages. The duo is on a mystic quest that can be determined by the flow of the rhythm that shrouds the song in a slower and melodic tempo.

The keyboards have a rich gothic feeling which highlights the catchy elements. The guitar sets the tempo and the drums work in tandem. Everything seems in a perfect balance to create the dusky ominous aura that spreads throughout the album. The following song ‘Empyrean Silver’ highlights the momentum of the pacing and the soaring raspy growls beautifully intertwine the epic atmosphere.

The next song ‘Beyond All Death’ is reinforced by blast beats full of tremolo pickings. The mournful effect of the vocals and the use of the strings highlights this song, Aethyrick offers some pleasing elements on its fifth studio album. The aura created by the strings and the keyboard layering is catchy and effective as you get treated to wonderful and majestic landscapes, the keys giving it an epic feel throughout the song.

The songwriting clearly shows that the duo emphasizes melancholy. However, it seems that the wave of the nineties black metal era still inspires Exile and Gall. Since the beginning Aethyrick embraced this pathos, their dark muse channeling melancholic black metal with fast riffing that provides momentum for their trademark. There are plenty of keyboard hooks and slower tempos placed at the heart of the songs.

These prominent features become overt with the passing of each track. Therefore, the full display of their talent in weaving epic majesty in the song ‘Midwinter Masks’ builds gradually when the low-pitched vocals provide a hypnotic mood. The slower passages and the catchy guitar work are emphasized and the duo’s trademark shines here through these dramatic paces when the keyboards and the lead guitars unfold the quality of the music.

It is truly fascinating how each song builds on the other. The melodies in ‘The Hands of Fate’ begin with tremolos to greater lengths, having catchy hooks to them similar in the style of the early Swedish and Norwegian black metal bands. Almost the whole album carries a distinctive, nostalgic feeling. Musically, the fifth album maintains harmony between the hypnotic riffing and the drums ushered by mournful melodies and  the occasional strings.

The closing track ‘Only Junipers Grow on My Grave’ is the second longest track after the opening song. It meticulously crafts catchy, atmospheric effects with the synt. The guitar dramatically provides plenty of acoustic passages that encompass a mesmerizing experience.

The vocals, which are mostly done in the same manner,raspy and melancholic, fit the music very well. Aethyrick’s fifth album is all about emotions, atmosphere and captivating elements. The duo is clearly on its voyage to mysticism. Despite the influx of black metal releases this year, the mysterious duo succeeded in releasing one of their best outputs since their sophomore album.

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