Kodex V

Aeba was a very prominent underground black metal band from north Germany. Unfortunately, they split up a short while ago, and all their potential future releases from this band who was quite profillic at putting out new material, went to utter dust. Aeba do not particularly produce anything out of the ordinary or revolutionary, however, the material they put out is usually of a pretty standard and enjoyable quality. Kodex V follows pretty much in the same path of its predecessors. There is an uncanny feeling of professionality and passion surrounding this release. This is mostly due to the fact that apart from the basic black metal influences which feature as the centrepiece around which all else evolves, Aeba manage to integrate certain melodic death metal and classical music elements within the overall musical tapestry.

For example, the album commences with an intro entitled "Lux Ex Tenebris" is a very well-executed version of the popular classical tune entitled "Peer Gynt", specifically the section of the song called "In the Hall of the Mountain king". This opens up the album on quite a positive footing, and it only gets better from there on. The second track entitled "More than Hate" has some pretty obvious melodic death metal-esque riffs usually employed by bands such as In Flames and Hypocrisy. Other quite notable tracks are "Seven Souls" which has a very cool clean-guitar intro accompanied by whispers that manage to send shivers down your spine. The bass guitar on this track is simply amazing, and could very well be a beacon of example to black metal bands on how to employ the bass guitar successfully within your songs. The third track, entitled "Nemesis - Lass Sie Brennen" displays perfectly the amazing level of skill the guitarist possesses. The solo on the aforementioned track is simply incredible and gives the song an entirely new aural dimension. The finger-tapping parts sound extremely inspired and well played. "Nemesis - Lass Sie Brennen" also contains some pretty cool bass-lines, especially the first bass-lead that gets its time to shine all alone. Another very interesting piece is the instrumental song called "La Petite Morte" where the guitarist gets to shred his fingers away. Although there is not much else going on in this song, the solo the guitarist pulls off is praiseworthy.

The vocalist pulls off quite an amazing performance. Although his vocal range seems to be a bit limited, he pulls off the classic black metal shriek extremely well. In addition, he also makes use of whispers and other effects which give his voice a bit of a sharp edge. The drummer is a complete machine and plays some pretty interesting drum-parts. One other important aspect of this incredible full-length is the frequent tempo and mood-changes. These sudden changes keep the album interesting and also strengthen the music with an added layer of technicality without sacrificing its aesthetic value. The production on this album, although it might not be crystal-clear, it is nothing to sneer at. Of course, in black metal, the formula usually adhered to is to keep things as simple and raw as possible. This of course, can be interpreted in several different ways. Aeba manage to keep things raw without sacrificing the fidelity. Every single instrument can be heard very well, except for the bass which does tend to get drowned a bit sometimes. Also, the drums, especially the bass-drum and the snare, two of the most important limbs for drums.

The cover-art is kind of generic and doesn't particularly work all that well when you keep the music in mind. Of course, the goat is a symbol associated with Satan and anti-christianity and this album does contain anti-christian motifs, however I don't think that it's all that obvious like how it would be with certain other bands. If the cover-art was chosen with a little bit more thought, I think the whole presentation of the album could have been better. Overall, this is a very competent and well-executed piece of musical art. Totally suggest a listen!

Aeba do not exist anymore and this is a pity, because they were competent and did not lack integrity. Of course, the scene is big enough to get over such a loss, nevertheless, the horde from Kiel was a trustworthy supplier of German black metal. They did not present extraordinary details or experimental ingredients, but they were able to use the tool box of the sub genre in an intelligent manner. There are just some minor flaws. They concern the album's sound.

It's safe to say that "Kodex V" does not profit from an excellent production. The bass is more or less non-existent. The massive guitars do not leave much room for the drums as well, while the vocals are able to leave their mark. They are almost overloaded with effects (reverb, distortion), but lead vocalist Isegrim performs well. Moreover, the other musicians also show no weaknesses - only the bass player cannot be assessed, due to the aforementioned reason.

The song-writing does not lack complexity. Aeba love to integrate breaks and the big number of tempo changes challenges the listener. But it is also true that the band has designed the songs cleverly. The different tempos increase both the dynamic and the intensity of the material. The same applies for totally unleashed solos like that at the end of "Lifecode Sin". Aeba do not dish up fast food black metal, but the songs always remain comprehensible and this is mostly an interesting combination.

Less interesting is "La Petite Morte", a pretty meaningless instrumental that divides the nine regular tracks into two halves. In view of the opulent playtime (66:06 minutes, nice joke), there was no necessity to put this comparatively mild number on the album. Be that as it may, there are still a lot of great pieces. "Geist der Dekadenz", partly equipped with German lyrics, has a very malicious beginning, furious blast beats and extremely massive sequences as well. Aeba demonstrate nearly perfectly how to create a black metal monster which is getting more and more vehement. (By the way, Dekadenz is much better than Dekabank, but that's another story.) "Seven Souls" is another climax. After a shady intro with whispered vocals, the song explodes. Hyper-fast drums motivate the guitars to brutal lines, the impure vocals impress and total blackness reigns. Even the fact that the apostles of the other side have also integrated some pretty melodic sequences does not take strength from this killer. Finally, the anti-Christian "The God Below Us" with its flattening guitars makes the unholy trinity of highlights complete. Very heavy mid-tempo parts with spoken vocals lead into devastating, pretty rapid sections with very good guitar lines. In their best moments, the guitarists create fathomless depths, but they also master morbid, less violent sections, as demonstrated by the break at 4:50 minutes.

What's left to say? You guessed it, I recommend this work to everybody who thinks that formations like Grabak or Svartsyn do a good job. Admittedly, more than 66 minutes form a real beast and it takes time to become familiar with "Kodex V", but it is worth it. I have described the highlights, but more or less each and every song comes into its own. Therefore, here is my message to five dudes in Kiel: comebacks are sometimes dubious, but they are not forbidden.

The album starts as it means to go on with an intro based on 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' and instantly erupts into 'More Than Hate' which sets the standard of the album.

There are some very good riffs on this album and at times they seem a bit like thrash metal riffs. Aeba would not be described as a raw black metal band. Although the production is quite black metally (ie not amazing, but good), there are many melodic passages which makes for interesting listening.

There are many fast, more brutal parts of course with blast beats galore that bring out the true black metal side of the band. Guitar solos also play quite a large part in the album which is not considered to be a black metal staple.

The vocals are as you would expect. They are impressive but at times quite weak.

Overall, 'Kodex V' is a very good album that would appeal to most black metal fans and, because of it's more melodic content, would also appeal to a lot of metal fans in general.