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Towards Atlantis Lights - Dust Of Aeons review




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Reviewer:
8.2

22 users:
7.41
Band: Towards Atlantis Lights
Album: Dust Of Aeons
Release date: March 2018


01. The Bunker Of Life
02. Babylon's Hanging Gardens
03. Alexandria's Library
04. Greeting Mausolus' Tomb

Do you cringe every time you hear the word "supergroup", just like I do? Well, then let me tell you that what we have here is an exception to the rule of great musicians getting together and forming a band only to produce poor results. Towards Atlantis Lights is one of the few supergroups that actually justifies the title with some splendid musical output.

The combined talent of members of acclaimed acts such as Pantheïst, Aphonic Threnody and Void Of Silence has gifted us with Dust Of Aeons, a funereal and atmospheric death/doom record, filled with nostalgic grief and immersed in a dreamlike and mesmerising ambiance. Kostas Panagiotou's monastic clean vocals and devastating growls narrate tales of ancient glory as well as shame, embellished by Ivan Zara's captivating guitar melodies and mournful riffs.

The band's ambition is evident from the bold choice of opening the album with a 30-minute epic monster. "The Bunker Of Life" is a colossal doom masterpiece, diving lyrically into humanity's collective unconscious and offering a heart-wrenching and dramatic aural experience. The sombre piano melody towards the end of it leads to "Babylon's Hanging Gardens", which asks questions about the essence of life that have perpetually remained unanswered. Each pounding chord sounds like a shovel digging deeper into the wisdom and the cultural achievements of aeons past.

Dust Of Aeons is a hopeless depiction of mankind's road to ruin, caused by the domination of materialism over spiritual values. The romantic and trudging 16 minutes of "Alexandria's Library" lament the burning of knowledge and the cut of the umbilical cord with archaic tradition after years of strife and discord. The duelling guitar harmonies of "Greeting Mausolus' Tomb" penetrate your soul as they draw the album to a close, with Kostas Panagiotou spitting out the lyrics with anger and contempt towards human vanity. Choosing the last surviving of the six destroyed wonders of the Ancient World to conclude Dust Of Aeons undoubtedly bears a symbolic character.

The only complaint I have about this magnificent effort is the relatively bland and lifeless production. The vocals often sound buried in the mix and I would have preferred a fuller and more organic drum sound. However, the music is so compelling and the storytelling so spellbinding that it is impossible not to get entirely consumed by the despair that pours out of your speakers (or headphones).

Enchanting, yet crushing, the debut by Towards Atlantis Lights is a stunning soundtrack of a story inspired by ancient civilizations. Listen and see in your mind's eye their rise and fall.

"So wipe these tears and move on now,
Knowing that Alexandria's Library
Perished for a reason?"





Written on 22.03.2018 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud!


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 115 users
23.03.2018 - 19:19
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Indeed a very good album. And that opener 'The Bunker Of Life' is a true doom monster.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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24.03.2018 - 05:34
Dreiroth

What is it the right mood to listen to this album? It is so dissonant yet boring what makes you give so high rating I would like to appreciate it the way you do...
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24.03.2018 - 10:28
nikarg

Written by Dreiroth on 24.03.2018 at 05:34

What is it the right mood to listen to this album? It is so dissonant yet boring what makes you give so high rating I would like to appreciate it the way you do...

It's funeral doom so not easy to digest and judging from your favourite bands, I don't see how you can like this. Many times I find this style boring myself, there is nothing dissonant about it though. This particular album has the right atmosphere and a great story to go with it, hence the high rating.
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26.03.2018 - 17:01
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Nice one, great album, and revivev, all Kostas bands are awesome and he is 13 :p
Nice text, lyrics and philosophical concept of this, all around ancient world , Kostas homeland
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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26.03.2018 - 17:11
nikarg

Written by Bad English on 26.03.2018 at 17:01

Nice one, great album, and revivev, all Kostas bands are awesome and he is 13 :p
Nice text, lyrics and philosophical concept of this, all around ancient world , Kostas homeland

I was sure you'd like this. I love the concept too and I can relate to it, obviously.
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27.03.2018 - 17:37
Rating: 8
cobrapel
Concept One
Written by Bad English on 26.03.2018 at 17:01

Kostas homeland

yeah, but as reported by their official fb the project has been started by Ivan Zara others joined over the last few years
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27.03.2018 - 17:53
nikarg

Written by cobrapel on 27.03.2018 at 17:37

yeah, but as reported by their official fb the project has been started by Ivan Zara others joined over the last few years

He 's talking about the lyrics though. All lyrics were written by Kostas and the music by Ivan.
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