Artist: Aperion
Label: Self-released
Release: 2010
Duration: 47:57
Rating: 4/5
Aperion, a promising Slovenian gothic symphonic folk metal outfit from Žalec, have finally managed to get their studio debut out into the world. And it’s a great one, with hair-splittingly polished arrangements that reveal the band’s distinctive approach to composing. That approach gives them an unmistakable stamp of recognizability. It’s a hugely important starting point for breaking through on the music scene and building a name of their own.
Anyone who knows the genre has probably already fished up the usual suspects from the sea of associations: Nightwish, Epica, Delain, Within Temptation, Leave’s Eyes,… Not a single one of those, let’s be clear. Aperion only touch on Nightwish here and there, thanks to the opera-trained, thoroughly phenomenal voice of singer Zala Hodnik.
What sets Aperion apart from related European bands is their clearly expressed, front-and-center approach to shaping natural sonic structures, interweavings and layers that build up their sound. An organic sound. No synthesizing! Plenty of their peers from the western part of Europe tackle the symphonic element by running all those arrangements through keyboards, so the keyboards basically play the role of the orchestra. In bands like that, the keyboardist usually has the decisive say in how the sound and style evolve (Nightwish, Delain). It’s also fascinating how, in all of these bands, the electric guitar is still pushed to the front. The cosmetics of artificial synthesizing, needed to get that symphonically “wide” sound picture, are often hidden by letting the electric guitar keep the initiative throughout, with solos and guitar harmonies, and the riffing is boosted in the production too. It’s a kind of compensation for the absence of organically shaped sonic collages.
Aperion, on the other hand, scale back the role of the electric guitar to the point where you can still, at any moment, file them under metal bands. But that’s the bare minimum. Riffs. Mixed so they don’t dominate the sound, except at the spots where the band deliberately wants to create a certain mood (Ocean, The Concept). But with the abundance of harmonic interplay in the natural sound created by the strings and flute, the listener gets a more deeply defined dynamic of full, compact sound and colorful, vivid movement in the arrangement structures. In this approach to musical artistry of their own, Aperion are even bold enough to use no keyboards anywhere. And you know what? You don’t miss them for a second.
There are no fewer than seven people in Aperion. Besides the flute, the lineup includes a proper mini string orchestra (viola, cello). No keyboards in the lineup. In the booklet you’ll spot the words “programming” and “orchestral arrangements”, but that can mean a lot of things. So the band may have used some extra samples, though I strongly doubt it. I’d rather say that certain parts were played multiple times and layered together in the studio, harmonized into the final sonic spectrum that holds up the backdrop of certain songs and co-creates the atmosphere.
The album was mastered at the famous Finnvox studio, and the even more famous Finnish sound engineer Mikka Jusilla brought out the melancholic moment that’s so core to the band in the final sound. The mixing was handled by band members Martin Bezjak and Črt Birsa at Epixproductions. The result is a perfectly shaped album sound that can serve as a model for other Slovenian bands chasing perfection and the best of the best.
The guitars are used only to hold down the riff punch and add contrast to the sonic picture. Let’s be honest, the “overdistorted” massive wall of guitar is necessary. The guitar provides the element that makes Aperion’s music attractive to fans of metal sounds, and that’s what has surely earned Aperion their relevance in the world of lasting rock. Metalheads, after all, only turn their backs on you once you stop playing metal.
Instrumental fe+ directly reveals the richness of the arrangements, with flute and strings colliding, offering an excellent balancing act between folk elements and classical music. That excellence and perfectionism is confirmed by the song Dajte. It’s the only song sung in Slovenian, and you’ll witness a consistently excellent, hand-in-glove combination of folk and classical elements. The song contains a genuinely cheerful Slovenian folk motif, and in the middle it’s once again embraced by a melancholic longing, where singer Zala’s vocal approach is especially effective and convincing. The song is marked by a one-of-a-kind blend of moods, precisely because it swings between merrymaking and melancholy. The arrangements fit together into a compact puzzle, held fluidly in place by a clear common thread. It’s a healthy approach to artistic expression, and in Aperion’s case it leads to hitting the sweet spot in showcasing the leading melodic motif structures.
There are thirteen songs in total. The first is an intro. The album flies by in the blink of an eye. You can tell it took a long time to come together, that the songs ripened in terms of arrangement. The same goes for the variety between them. So what we have here is a lively, dynamic album, full of dizzying twists, strung together by individual moods. Above all, Aperion put the search for the perfect melody and melodically well-rounded combinations first, which results in fantastic listenability.
That doesn’t mean the album is easy to win over. In the genre pigeonhole I’ve stuck them in, Aperion are a tougher nut to crack. Not because of any demanding musical content, but because of the sheer variety of motifs. If I list a few of the exceptional contrasts this wonderful album has to offer, I’d first point to the melodically compact, acoustic-leaning Fairytale Mind, which is built for release as a single. After it on the album comes the most tragic song on the record, Black Flies! Woven in here are a didgeridoo and an extra “underbeat” of percussion. The song carries a whiff of chaos and tragedy. Then there are the songs where rich symphonic melodicism is brilliantly backed by riff punch (Shine, Maya, Ocean, The Concpet, Ü) … Clearly, the long development the album went through in its embryonic phase made a decisive contribution to its remarkable effectiveness in presenting clearly crafted, clean and melodically infectious structures. By the fourth or at the latest fifth spin of this little disc, know that it’ll become your best friend, no doubt about it.
With “Act Of Hybris”, Aperion haven’t just dropped an excellent studio debut. It’s proof that a new Slovenian band has appeared on the scene, one that knows exactly what it wants, with clearly stated goals and a vision that embodies, right from the start, the recognizable character of its own artistry. With the element of delivering music effectively, as a rich weave of natural sounds combined with metal punch, Aperion can, with their debut, be an outstanding example even to foreign bands of “established names” that, unlike Aperion, reached musical recognition in the symphonic gothic folk metal corner years ago.
For Slovenia, this album is an extraordinary gain. Not only does it reach the developmental step and level of Western European standards, it also sets new standards to a certain extent and pushes boundaries by discovering new creative directions within a seemingly long-exhausted genre. Act Of Hybris is definitely a contender for the best Slovenian metal album of the year. Let’s hope Western Europe rates it highly in terms of quality too. Aperion are a band that has to seek success in the West! They undoubtedly have the predispositions for it, and with this debut the cornerstone has been laid!
Lineup
Zala Hodnik – vocals
Martin Bezjak – viola
Tina Anderlič – flute
Črt Birsa – guitar
Samo Dervišič – cello
Dani Telebar – bass guitar
Nejc Kolar – drums
Žiga Birsa – didgiredoo, percussion
Nejc Oberčkal- vocals on track 6
Miha Koren – double bass on track 11
Production
Martin Bezjak & Črt Birsa
Tracklist
1. Source
2. Ocean
3. Shine
4. Urma
5. Light
6. Maya
7. Fairytale Mind
8. Black Flies
9. The Truth
10. fe+
11. Dajte
12. The Concept
13. Ü
