Aisling | ‘Aisling’

Aisling hail from the beautiful Italian city of Trieste, and are an unsigned band who have put the money in to self release their own album, and screw me if the metal underground isnt all the better for it. The band’s ethos and imagery is based around celtic mythology (hence their name), which is a little strange for a group coming from Italy, but madly they sound as if they could have come straight out of the Tain.

We have here a mixture of chaotic black metal and beautiful folk; imagine if you will early Hecate Enthroned mixed with liberal dashes of Empyrium, the latter obviously being a very large influence. Opener “The Oracle of Dehumanisation” is an absolute killer of a black anthem - its main riff is just so awesome and huge, a facet that the band do actually repeat over the albums length. Granted the production is at times pretty poor, notably with the buried vocals, but the point about this cd is that the songs are so great. I love this to bits.

It’s epic, grand and pompous - and when it quietens down, such as in “Duan Amhaírghíne”, its evocative and pensive. There really is a lot of talent in here that will be on a respectable label very soon. Ealriest period Emperor also seems to get a look in on the ripper “Sepulchral Council of the Beholders”, and the albums closer “Tir na N’og” is quite notable with some vocals that actually remind me of Darren White. Its a bit out of the way to get this cd, but if you like your black metal atmospheric, fast and mysterious, please check out Aisling… I was blown away.

4.2 / 5. -Ciaran Tracey ::: 21/04/02