Since the 80s, to release an EP was a test for the band’s name into the market, a way for the band to release new material to keep its name alive for the fans (maybe this one fits on what was happening with SLAYER on the days “Haunting the Chapel”, when Kerry King was playing with MEGADETH), a first release to project the band’s name, between others. And maybe this last one fits on “Odius Imprecation”, the first release of the Finnish quintet AEDES. Classic Death Metal is what the band stands for, using a model that was usual on the early days of the Second Wave of Death Metal (1989-1993), based a lot on the Swedish Death Metal features used by acts as ENTOMBED, UNLEASHED, DISMEMBER and CARNAGE on their primordial releases.

Although it’s not forbidden to do such thing, the quintet shows potential to go further than that (as some Blackened Death Metal touches heard on “Merging into Madness”), but as the band is young and that’s still maturing their musical ideas, it can be considered as a good release. To depict the band’s links to Old School Death Metal, the artwork of Silja Kumpulainen is really a piece of art in this sense. And Aspiring Champion (in reality, he is Mårten Gustafsson, the drummer of the band) worked on the recording, mixing and mastering of the songs, creating something that could fit on an Old School Death Metal model (aggressive, raw and brutal), but’s not hard to be understood.

“Heretical Rebirth”, “Portraits of Hell” and “Cosmic Void Decay” are songs that depicts their talent, but entangled on Old School Death Metal cliches, and they can do better than that, as long “Merging into Madness” depicts it (the slow-paced rhythms of bass guitar and drums are filled with very good guitar arrangements and charming grols of the vocals). As mentioned above, “Odius Imprecation” is a good first release, but AEDES has more to show than that.