Ethereal Riffian – Aeonian

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Despite all the bullshit happening in Ukraine (and around the world), there are some good news coming from Kiev. Ethereal Riffian came up with their sophomore album entitled Aeonian which surpasses the great debut Shaman’s Visions in every aspect.

Before I start talking about the music, I want to emphasize the artistic side these guys expose through the art work & package design. I was bought already when I received my copy of Shaman’s Visions (see pic below), but with the new album that is available as digital download, standard CD edition, limited edition, ultra limited edition, color and black vinyl editions, these Ukrainian purveyors of stoner-driven psychedelic prog rock have made a few steps forward.

Ethereal Riffian’s Shaman’s Visions

Musically speaking, I can say that nothing surprised me that much since the Sleep days. The sound is polarized and it acts as a peak-to-peak amplitude being both heavy and atmospheric throughout the record. Heavy structures wrapped around with organic soundscapes makes the whole Aeonian experience feel more like a spiritual journey, and that is very well established since the mentioned 2011′s debut.

Aeonian is divided into four massive tracks that showcase a masterfully crafted unison between a riff and melody, with plenty of other elements building the album’s core. Besides standard studio set-up, Aeonian includes parts performed on djembe, didgeridoo, flute and cello, what definitely goes with the group’s aim to create unconventional music. The album is accompanied with a book that follows the story told through the music.

Ethereal Riffian’s Aeonian

Says guitarist and vocalist Val Kornev: “Aeonian refers to eternal search of human being of its true nature. Aeon is a long indefinite period, may be a billion years or more. So it doesn’t matter when the urge for such search arises – today our 100,000 years ago, because the call for such search is timeless in relation to human nature. Human being lives a very limited amount of time, and it’s that small in the scope of the universe as an atom is small in relation to the size of the human body. Nevertheless, peculiarity of our kind is that we can achieve the right sensation and understanding of our true nature despite of the limited time we have.“

The music is most of time powerful, but rather in a spiritual sense than it’s shown through the instrumental work. Greasy riffs are there, but are accompanied with sophistication rather than uncontrolled force. These four tracks are attention-seeking, what might dictate what will you (not) do during the album’s playtime.

With this exceptional release, Ethereal Riffian have made a great step forward into showcasing the cohesion in their writing what resulted in a record that is certainly far above today’s standards. And for that you have to experience this album.

Tracklist:

1. Thugdam (Sensation) 07:37
2. March of Spiritu (Rise of Sheol) 11:33
3. Wakan Tanka (Awareness) 12:09
4. Anatman (Oneness) 11:39

Line-up:

* Val Kornev (aka Stonezilla) – guitar/vocal/lyrics
* Alexander Kornev (aka SAF) – bass
* Max Yuhimenko (aka Southman) – lead guitar
* Nikita Shipovskoi (aka Ship) – drums

Guest Musicians:

* Sergey (aka Bookvarique) – djembe
* Yaroslaw Kaminskiy – didgeridoo
* Alex Savage (aka Abu) – flute
* Alexander – cello

Links:

http://etherealriffian.com/

https://www.facebook.com/etherealriffian

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