From Bandcamp, “An exploration into dark fantasy; a true story of repeating history. ADON examines the fragility of existence through story and violent legend, and supposes what happens next.” Formed in the USA in 2020, this is the band’s debut full-length, and it has six songs. “Ascension” is first. It has a very strong and contentious opening sound…like Black Metal, but dialed up to 11, and with some Death Metal riffs that are brutal and punishing. I picture one of my worst recurring nightmares, and it doesn’t even compare to the boldness of their sound. They also show some real skill in their performance.

“Æther” is next, and it has a faster pace fueled by Death/Thrash riffs and Black Metal screams. The band smartly fills in all the blanks in the sound with harrowing elements as well, and when those vocals go low, you can feel the, in your soul. The title track is a 16-minute beast, and it’s like a trip to the recesses of your mind…to those horrid thoughts and feelings that you figured were buried a long time ago and were incapable of reliving. Each new passages opens another door that you wanted closed, until the entirety of the experience leaves you completely overwhelmed. It shifts several shifts along the way, and although I would call them complex, they never lost sight of the sound.

“Azimuth” keeps the gas pedal pressed to the floor, and the band shows no signs of slowing down on either their energy or the abundance of evil sound emanating from their instruments. When you have to pause to consider that much of the album was written by one, or at the most, two people, that is power. “Axiom” is shortest on the album, but like they threw rocket fuel onto an already raging fire, sending the flames overtop of the trees. “Æon” closes the album; a lengthy 11-minute song. It the beginning, it sounds to me like all the evils of the world are gathering in a central location, ready to form the army of all armies. Soon enough, the army is on the march, to the end of all mankind.

This is one of the best American Black Metal bands that I have heard this year, an award usually reserved for our Nordic and European partners. Black Metal can be very dark, but nothing is as dark as this album. It’s almost as if the pitch black of the night came alive, with more grotesque and twisted creatures than in your worst nightmare, and the album is all wrapped up in a tight presentation that is impenetrable.