Aether Realm Tarot

It’s no secret – ÆTHER REALM’s 2017 release Tarot is the album that truly surged these melodic death heroes into the metalverse! The North Carolina, USA-based quartet’s massive, now 12-track/70+ minute sophomore release (expanded with the addition of previous standalone single “The Magician” to the new physical edition) garnered notable underground appeal and cemented the band’s mind-blowingly multi-faceted sound as their own – spurring prominent metal blogs such as No Clean Singing and Angry Metal Guy to dub the album as an “enormous accomplishment” and “spectacular”, respectively. Boasting an evident auditory overhaul courtesy of producer Kile Odell and loosely based on the concept of tarot cards, Tarot begins the masterpiece to come with “The Fool” – beginning modestly, then ominously cascading into a black metal-meets-southern-fried riff inspired fury. Further setting the stage for the remainder of the opus, the incendiary title track “Tarot” leans heavier into what fans have now come to love from ÆTHER REALM – a confident, cinematic melding of spine-tingling symphonic elements, thrashy rhythms and mind-boggling guitar leads. Following folk metal anthem-turned-talent show “King of Cups” (featuring now-labelmate Christopher Bowes of pirate metal titans Alestorm), Tarot continues to blindingly-shine with tracks like the metallic ballad-echoed “Death” and sinister orchestral oeuvre “The Devil” – the latter of which should catch any competition shaking in their boots. The remainder of Tarot – capped by the nearly 20-minute heroic “The Sun, The Moon, The Star” – proves that it is indeed possible to flawlessly meld southern Americana-metal riffs with European-tinged symphonic soundscapes. Tarot is the album that every band wishes they could attempt by their second go-round, yet ÆTHER REALM have already achieved it and gaze triumphantly ahead.