Adon – Adon Review

When I happened across one of the singles for Adon, I recall thinking it sounded, quote, “impossibly good.” Adon formed in 2019 and has thus far released one EP, Arkane, in 2020. They currently maintain a humble online presence; unsurprising for a relatively new band, but from what I’d heard I couldn’t help but believe they deserved better. When I got the chance to review their self-titled debut I felt excited at the prospect of potentially helping their following grow… but that depends on the music, doesn’t it? And so I dug in, hoping the potential I saw in their pre-release material would be realized.

Turns out that potential was realized, and more. Listening to Adon is like falling into a black hole that’s actually a meat grinder; this is a densely textured album of cosmic scope with a heaviness that strikes with the force of a supernova. Adon plays a kind of extreme black metal that inhabits a singularity between Darkspace, Behemoth, and Decapitated. Atmospheric layers of black metal tremolos, vocal fills, and trilling flutes flank the vitriolic riffs, creating a genuine sense of depth. However, Adon never lose themselves in a cosmic haze, instead keeping the music grounded in accessible yet subtly complex black metal aggression. “Ascension” wastes no time introducing you to the Adon assault: a wall of anguished growls and piercing guitars try to drown an emerging riff that escalates into a skull-splitting onslaught. Adon is the complete package; the musicianship is top-notch—Decapitated’s James Stewart kills it on drums, Argonath is a fierce guitarist, and I love Æthulwulf II’s unhinged vocals—the songwriting is mature, and the production keeps the guitars brutally heavy without ever smothering the music’s nuances.

There’s plenty to like about Adon at face value, but for me, the true appeal lies in the palpable atmosphere of madness. Like voices in your head, the penetrative layers of growls and tremolos floating above the riffs invade your mind, coagulating into an unshakeable feeling of slowly going mad—until the white noise suddenly drops, and your focus zeroes in on the guitars. It’s an exciting give and take, and is prevalent throughout the album’s shorter tracks. “Æther” and “Azimuth” utilize this through old-school black metal verses leading into heavier, death metal choruses. “Axiom” is a more straightforward slab of hateful black metal, dispersing the noise for a muscular bridge and the album’s best guitar solo courtesy of Warscythe’s Justin Sakogawa. The cosmic scale of Adon is most felt during the ten-plus minute epics. The discordant downward spiral of “Æon” and the energetic battle between cacophonous flutes and guitar riffs—including a badass guest performance by Fallujah’s Kyle Schaefer—in “Adon” drag you into a tangible musical void, before building back heavensward with massive riffs whose clarity contrasts the chaos of each song’s first half. A descent into madness, a search for knowledge, the emergence of something different entirely; Adon’s themes all come together here, and they are clear highlights.

There’s one point in “Adon” where I first noticed a crack in Adon’s firmament. The recurring motif of swirling flutes (courtesy of Ember Belladonna) giving way to intense riffs nails the desired effect—light and dark, knowledge and nothingness—as a fast-paced alternating decrescendo or as a swampy ambiance of horror flutes and guitars. The theming is lost when a funeral doom riff bursts into a bright dance between flutes and notably progressive guitars, before switching back again; these ideas feel awkward when sandwiched together due to their length. This section befuddled me, and I began to notice other cracks; the clean guitar ending of “Æther” feels slightly out of place, “Æon” fades out too fast after such an effective build-up, and the chorus in “Azimuth” sounds cluttered when mixed with the guitar solo. Despite everything, I struggle to glean any underlying pattern of incompetence in Adon; rather, they’re isolated mistakes earnestly committed by artists close to their art, and their infrequence can’t help but accentuate them. Fortunately, there’s nothing minor edits couldn’t fix, but that only makes their existence sting all the greater.

Even with some wrinkles to iron out, Adon is a stupidly good debut. When I set out to review Adon, I hoped that I could, in some small way, act as a catalyst for the success and recognition that Adon deserves, but I’ve realized that I overestimated my own importance in this equation. Adon is a self-assured release whose quality speaks for itself, and Adon is destined for remarkable things regardless of my help.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Release
Websites: adon.bandcamp | adon.facebook
Releases Worldwide: April 12th, 2024