ALBUM REVIEW: Uncrown – Ages

When an empire is uncrowned, it is deprived of its ruling position by opposing forces. New behaviours implemented, and brave ideologies distilled. Often though, the same mistakes are made; you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. Swedish black-metal duo AGES live vicariously through their sophomore album, Uncrown.

Having spent a gruelling five years crafting the album following their debut The Malefic Miasma, AGES pick up thematically where they left off, overthrowing the culturally-renowned establishment we know as religion. On Uncrown, they personify this further through their unique blend of melodic black metal, symphonic metal, and new wave of British heavy metal. Across its nine tracks, Uncrown is a statement of intent from the Swedes to invade the mainstream metal masses with their desolate soundscapes.

The black metal tropes are all over the album, from blistering blastbeat attacks to guttural growls, yet there’s wave upon wave of layers hiding in the mix that separates AGES from their peers. Opener Burn Them illuminates out of the gate as dual-harmonies bring the accessibility to a genre which until now was only available to the mainstream masses via the likes of BEHEMOTH. Elsewhere, the slowburn percussion sections on Herolds Of Enslavement and the power chord panache that encompasses Undivine deliver the devil in the details throughout Uncrown.

If opening up the black metal floodgates was the mission, they’ve truly achieved it. If crafting an album of consistency was their aim, they’ve fallen short of the mark. They shoot out of the gate with a trio of striking symphonic black metal numbers – Burn Them, Illicit State and Herolds Of Enslavement – before they fall into formulaic territory with the tedious tremolo to-and-froing of A Hollow Tomb and Dominionism.

AGES, as creative as ever, bring Uncrown back into business with the darker, blastbeat-engulfing title track and album highlight The Death Of Kings Of Old. This is where the band eclipse their vision, letting their grandiosity breathe as they fill space with orchestral interludes that erupt into an arena-sized chorus of harmonic growls and a guitar riff that’ll write off less competent musicians. Unfortunately, the drop in pace earlier on offsets what could’ve been a masterpiece of a second album.

Traditionally, black metal lyrics often drift into poetic realms waxing lyrical on the occult. AGES have tapped into these poetic tapestries, but opt instead to take on religion and its empirical establishments. On Illicit State, they string together short statements in sharp dual-harmony deliveries as they look to dismantle the dystopia of their surroundings: “Your philistine despicable reign, the plague of your venomous words, your illicit state shall be scorched to a desert of abandoned faith.” Elsewhere, their ability to pair rhyming couplets together takes their hook-riddled harmonies to new heights to truly elevate their mainstream-chasing black metal.

On Uncrown, AGES present a comprehensive follow-up to their promising debut. Packed with potential, Uncrown follows the path laid by trailblazing bands like BEHEMOTH and DIMMU BORGIR. If AGES can find consistency in their melodic take on epic symphonic black metal, they’ll be on their way to paving the way for exposing extreme metal to mainstream metal audiences.

Rating: 7/10

Uncrown is out now via Black Lodge. 

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