AODON is a French Atmospheric Black Metal band.  They formed in 2016 and their latest album is their second full length "11069."  Although "11069," doesn't have a shortage in the Atmospheric department, they are quite a bit more vicious that most bands of this subgenre.  Despite how abrasive it can be on the surface, dig a little deeper and you will find a very rich album that demands multiple listens.   I can hear some Post-Metal elements here, mainly in the guitar department as it forgoes nonstop tremolo picking in favor of greener pastures, but AODON so effectively combine a lot of sounds within their many layers that it still manages to sound extremely cohesive and well put together.   In essence, they take Atmospheric, Black, Post, and even Prog elements and put them together so well that it ends up being all of these things yet no one element surpasses the other.

"Les Rayons," opens the album with a very heavy hitter, with furious riffs and drumming.  Perhaps this opening track doesn't full convey what the album is all about, but again, after several listens the song opens itself up.  The riffs change up constantly as the song goes on and the melodic lines made by the lead guitars accent everything going on around them.  About halfway thru the song, it slows down greatly to a passage consisting of faint but heavy tones, clean guitar melodies, and just buckets and buckets of imaginative progression as the song as ramps back up in intensity.

Although this first track, and the second, are both excellent tunes it isn't until "L'echo," that the album really comes into its own.  The first minute or so is a steady but cold build up, an intro designed to immediately catch your attention while also leading you to the explosion of Blackened vocals and the furious duel attack of double bass and snare.  Speaking of that snare...what wonderful sounds it makes as it batters the senses.  This track is very methodical in its approach, passages that take a path least resistance thus leaving the possibilities endless.

"L'instinct," shows the band doesn't get too caught up in its own ideas—self-indulgent they are not as they still have the capacity to annihilate.  Much of the track's seven-minute runtime is just a nonstop barrage of riffs and drums.  It is a testament to AODON's song writing skills that it never becomes monotonous.  There is more to than riffs and drums—a certain understanding of how to make the more Black Metal elements work and play off the others is evident.

"L'energie," is one of the shorter tracks but also one of the best.  Its very mood alternates several times; an intense, somewhat lumbering dirge signifies the beginning of the song's life.  Almost like a living thing, the track twists, turns, and grows as the seconds pass.  By the end of the song, the end times have come as the whole band finishes together in a cacophony of well calculated noise.

The last track, "Le parfun des pluies," is mysterious-a very dim light that can barely been seen in the distance through the thickest of fog.  The melodies and drums work so well in bringing this mystery to life.  It is alluring, perhaps even a bit dangerous but the only way through is forward, and the song does indeed push itself through this rabbit hole harder and harder until the very end, which is a well done escape from the harrowing experience found chasing that light.

AODON's "11069," is an album that doesn't cast an immediate type of music—this isn't really something you put in for background music or show your friend the latest badass, heavy as fuck Black Metal band.  This is a thinking man's album, one of that requires all your attention as you pull back many of its layers.  Fortunately, every layer is rich and worth the exploration and patience required to obtain the sweetness within.