Otherworldly evils are called once again as these blackened death cultists of Germany cast their latest Necronomic summoning, and those entities respond mightily to the fervent devotions practiced on each rite. The magnificence of the Ancient Ones has always been fittingly reflected by SULPHUR AEON’s crafted auras, which have also progressed gradually across each successive work and particularly through certain vocal techniques, and some other elements join this continuum while Seven Crowns and Seven Seals maintains a familiarity to accommodate the ineffable pantheon within. Its frenzied and melodic forces gather into ever-expansive depths around SULPHUR AEON, whose adept capacity here reaches a grandiosity that inflicts utter madness and terror upon mankind.
Vast and epic magnitudes are evoked melodically over the chasms of “Sombre Tidings,” and this elemental potency becomes even more pronounced amid heavier tides crashing on “Hammer From the Howling Void,” where the riff and blast-beaten storm breaks for choruses of melodic rapture. Certain vocal layers here clearly affirm lawless gods while peaking the captivation with harmonic notes, and their pitches evolve with deeper tones for an enhanced dynamic impact, which continues through other melodies rising in the slower passages that follow. Clean-stringed effects are noted among this textural array, and these are essential to many auras formed throughout, including the bleak undercurrents traversed on “Usurper of the Earth and Sea.” They integrate effectively around the hostile and abyssal blackness raging forth in cold tremolo riffs, and vocals match that energy with harsh rasps, demonstrating an intuitive shift from deathly bellows that compounds the arrangements at hand. This extends to the astral presence of elevated speed riffing, along with multiple enchanted fret sequences emerging harmoniously from the depths, and soloing capitalizes on the immensity of those formulas to conclude a piece of exceptional splendor.
Melody is again vital as aural varieties unfold on “The Yearning Abyss Devours Us,” with its initial lead heralding more glorious forms of composition, and sung vocals drive a reverence here that is likewise conveyed when an atmospheric trance ensues. This is induced by multiple clean and ethereal effects, and the underlying fury resurges with a parallel essence to amplify its radiance. “Arcane Cambrian Sorcery” shifts to a malign focus through arpeggiated and dissonant conjurings, along with guttural and rasped vocal fluctuations to favorably compound their wrath, but majestic elements from the previous rite also return with entranced waves and soloing that elevate the shadows. Drumwork is another prominent feature throughout, and its frenzied maneuvers and transitions imbue a notable lifeforce to this piece, which then changes pace to a stride that accommodates the title track’s sliding riff groove. Melodic courses abound within the murk of its primordial riffing masses, and their intensity combines with the open space of others where sung praises further exalt the Ancient Ones. Intoxicated solos capture a heightened attainment before sealing fate on “Beneath the Ziqqurats,” and an alluring rhythmic quality is marked when percussion alters from blast beats to double bass around the vocal patterns. Mighty invocations match the power of heavy chugged riffs while progressions escalate, and the melodies soon consume this last act in a madness that fades back to the nethermost regions.
The incantations call forth another level of devastation, with hails to those abominable deities and an eagerness for death beginning on “Hammer From the Howling Void,” and its devotions to Azathoth are atmospherically charged with scenes depicting the aftermath of his wrath. There are reverberations “In pools of the slain” that combine with the ritualism of “Abhorrent sigils, burnt into the minds of Man,” and “The immense weight of the cosmos” further relates the chaotic scope surrounding this blind mad god. Similar events transpire after one who remains unnamed is summoned by those “Speaking the words as the stars align” on “Usurper of the Earth and Sea,” and the “Insanity rides” amid portals opening while many of its verses see creation undone. The demeanor of the great old ones takes over when “Reveling in the joy of ultimate demise,” and this sentiment is echoed during “The Yearning Abyss Devours Us,” where oblivion approaches with tormented sightings that feature “The black goat” as an “Ineffable mass of mouths and hooves.” Other entities including Dagon and Cthulhu are also mentioned, and they become “Scourge of the cosmic sea” once roused from dreamlike states, which leaves observers consumed by the gaping void of their realm.
A trip back to primeval origins follows on “Arcane Cambrian Sorcery,” and the turmoil surrounding this time of “Cosmic copulation” is conveyed across the expanding universe in “Dawn of life spawned the dawn of war.” The “Ancient hostile deities” involved are brought to this sphere using “Hieroglyphic murals, old as Earth itself,” and their surfacing “From damp and eerie swamps” aligns with another atmospheric terrain in the music before “Seven Crowns and Seven Seals” names those highly ranked entities, who are then intriguingly correlated to different planetary energies. They are also fiercely portrayed throughout the invocations, with Yig, for instance, hailed as the “Deathless father” arriving from “Saturnian spheres,” and Yog-Sothoth is regarded for having “Dimensions open under his will.” Directing Cthulhu to “Lay waste upon this world” reflects the destructive ambitions persisting when the seals break definitively on “Beneath the Ziqqurats,” and steadfast dedication is demanded here “As the old ones end all life.” The context deepens in mentioning their rule over “Ruins of buried Irem,” which is the desert city of pillars traveled to by the Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred, in Lovecraft’s works and the Necronomicon. Its gates become overwhelmed by a “Sinister force” that leaves those “Entombed by time, by magick and dust” fully revived, and the ensuing devastation finalizes a grimoire laden with ancient mystique.
SULPHUR AEON has reaffirmed a penchant for calling forth quality manifestations, with Seven Crowns and Seven Seals representing the next era of dark consistency, but a progressive edge also continues without sacrificing the core brutality of their sound. Those other elements instead cast dynamic shades of reverence and grandeur that harmonize within the overarching havoc, which effectively channels the harsh and murky extremes of the metal genres employed, and striking points of awareness are further seized through evocative lead and melodic spells. Rhythmic maneuvers are then notable in driving the power behind these formulas, and this ceremonial collective ultimately forwards a fierce and exquisite spirit that would surely gain favor with the Ancient Ones, if they were ever to awaken.
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