One thing you certainly can’t accuse Tuomas Saukkonen of is laziness. So far in 2011 he has delivered a new Before the Dawn album, (and rather good it was too), a new RoutaSielu album, and now a new Black Sun Aeon release. With Saukkonen, you generally know what you are going to get, regardless of the project name that it’s released under; it’s just the tiny nuances that make the difference. ‘Blacklight Deliverance’ doesn’t particularly deviate from his tried and trusted melodic death model, yet there are things that make it stand out from the crowd, and I’m glad to say, for all the right reasons.
Opening with a Katatonia style tremolo guitar riff, opening track ‘Brothers’ finally kicks in with a downtuned harsh low riff, and as Saukkonen comes in with his raw and aggressive, if unspectacular, style of vocal delivery, what we have is very similar to Before the Dawn, the only real difference being in the arrangement, which along with the excellent production makes this feel absolutely huge. It would be quite a mistake to judge the sound of this album on the first track alone however, because one thing that sets Black Sun Aeon apart from other bands is the number of vocalists. Clearly having decided that having two vocalists with Before the Dawn was rather limiting, here we have three. Saukkonen himself provides harsh vocals, Mikko Heikkilä of Sinamore and RoutaSielu provides the clean vocals, and for the sake of balance and equality, Janica Lönn of Lunar Path provides a sultry female vocal. So, when the 2nd track on ‘Blacklight Deliverance’ kicks in, you wonder if you are listening to a different album. The huge sound remains and that is the primary link, as the song style changes dramatically. With Lönn and Heikkilä providing the vocal duties on ‘Solitude’, the sound switches from a melodic death stance to a gothic doom one, and it has to be said, it’s very bloody good. Mikko provides a clean accompaniment to Janica’s sultry lead vocal, with a voice that puts me in mind of Draconian’s Lisa Johansson.
The album tends to switch periodically between the two extremes of style, occasionally meeting in the middle. From the Dark Tranquillity inspired ‘Sheola’ to the more Lacuna Coil style arrangement of ‘Oblivion’, it’s difficult to find a mood to settle on, yet despite this, the album flows well and at no point do I feel myself reaching for the skip button. Despite the style variation, every song is expertly crafted and delivered, and the album remains engaging right the way through to the extended piano outro of ‘Nightfall’.
Although very different from last year’s album ‘Routa’, which focussed on the particularly harsh Finnish winter of 2009, this more personal album is still a cut above Saukkonen’s other work. As it suggests on the bands website, what once began as a side project has now become the sharpest blade in the armoury of Tuomas Saukkonen. I really couldn’t agree with that more, as this is clearly the project that deserves the most attention. It’s certainly inspired me to go and check out Lunar Path, as Janica Lönn has the most beguiling voice and it’s the addition of her vocals that have elevated ‘Blacklight Deliverance’ into my list of the best albums of the year. Inconsistent in style, yet consistently brilliant.
http://www.blacksunaeon.com
Lee Kimber
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