Being able to see different bands come from all over and try new things is the exact sort of thing that keeps metal interesting for people like me as we get everything from black metal to progressive metal constantly evolving and new bands coming up with new ways to make it more intriguing for newer ears. Melodic death metal has recently seen this in the form of acts like Insomnium and Countless Skies where everything feels much more active and colorful, and that itself has gained some new bands to add to its roster. Aephanemer is far from a new act at this point, but their style is always fun to come back to and that doesn’t change one bit with their upcoming effort.

I’ve always found it important to constantly challenge yourself as a band, or even just a musician by yourself, and try something new even if it’s similar to what you’ve done before. Change can be good and it can lead to something truly awesome that many others will eat right up. We saw this with the aforementioned Countless Skies who, still to this day, have created a unique brand of melo-death whose delicious variety I haven’t heard elsewhere in such potency, until tonight that is as Aephanemer’s sophomore full-length of “Prokopton” is the exact sort of a response to the changing state of melodic death metal that we’ve been needing. Not many people can get behind the soaring guitars and even mildly upbeat tones, but I simply can’t get enough of it and Aephanemer has delivered something that’s all but delectable. There’s not a single track contained within “Prokopton” that isn’t constant high energy while we’re given an absolute feast of colorful guitar work, vocals that are always stupendous to the max, drums that always know how the pack the perfect punch through a pristine rhythm, and a grand sense of musicianship that gives the entirety of these eight tracks something to truly savor time after time. Each listen of this record gives us something new to eat up time with every fresh spin, and Aephanemer has clearly mastered the arts of both keeping your listener interested all the way to the end and even bringing that listener back over and over to make sure that the grandiose effort of “Prokopton” does not easily leave the mind.

It’s fairly safe to say that a bit of a movement is happening melodic death metal at this point where, simply, we’re getting more material like this more often. I’m not sure where it initially started, but the important part is how much potential it has and Aephanemer is without a doubt one of the acts at the forefront of the movement with this record being prime material that’s ripe for both reverence and expansion. Many albums will be hailed if this movement continues to gain speed, and I truly believe that “Prokopton” should be given the honor of being included to that list.

“Prokopton” releases on March 22nd via Primeval Records!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Prokopton” on Bandcamp here.

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FOLLOW Aephanemer on Twitter: @Aephanemer