As soon as the intro “From The Ashes Of Deceit” starts you are expecting warriors to stand up and point their sword to the skies and start shouting about True Metal. But I have to admit that adding the classical music to it does make it sound rather impressive. When the first full song “Aflame The Cold” takes over you can’t help but expect good things to follow. This is Epic Heavy/Power Metal with classical undertones, and the music as well as the vocals work well together. Not only can Nicklas Sonne sing, he can also play the guitar quite well. And he is able to make it sound as if his solos are being brought to you by YNGWIE MALMSTEEN or LUCA TURILLI.

ARIES DESCENDANT is an international duo, where Jonah Weingarten is from the USA and Nicklas Sonne is Danish. I feel that the first one is the band leader and main song writer, whilst the second is the one that fills in the blanks. After that they convene and try and find the best ways to make it onto one cohesive mass of noise. But then again, I might be completely wrong. “From The Ashes Of Deceit” was released on the 18th of October 2024 by non-other than Frontiers Music Srl. Usually that would mean that we can look forward to a very exciting record. Let’s see if that is the case this time. The answer in itself is quite simple.

Yes, it is good, if I’m honest, but not exactly exciting. I will explain my reservations. Even though these two in ARIES DESCENDANT are virtuoso in their field, it doesn’t guarantee an awe-inspiring album. And that is what is lacking on “From The Ashes Of Deceit” in my opinion. The music is good, is very well written and executed, but it is missing those ingredients that could lift it above the average marks. I am talking about originality, but even more important, emotion. Everything I hear has been done before, which in itself should not be a problem, as long as it has been done right. It has, but it has all been done so clean and pure that is sounds almost mechanical. The amount of emotion is minimal and that would have helped quite a lot. For me this is one of those albums that showcases how good the musicians are but forgets to gel them into a real band. My question to myself is whether I was expecting too much.