IDMON’S AEGIS have introduced themselves six months ago, with the remarkable and enthusiastic 2024 EP, under the title ‘’Divine Providence / Ceryneian Hind’’ and have created a lot of expectations in the realm of epic heavy metal.
So, is the debut full-length album of the band standing up to these ambitious expectations that were created about them?
Let’s find out!
From the first song of the album, ‘’Accurst Play’’, a mid-tempo imposing ritualistic – ethereal, fist pumping song, I would say that is obvious for a meticulous listener of the genre, that the album is deeply immersed in certain and specific roots of this sound and bands that initially crafted it, such as MANILLA ROAD and LONGINGS PAST.
This kind of epic heavy metal is strong, proud and maybe sound ‘’difficult or weird’’ to some ears, but it is what it is.
It doesn’t make any effort to sound epic because it’s epic by default and by definition. This ilk of epic heavy metal, maybe sometimes sounds harsh, rough, raw, but it’s also, at the same time ‘’fatally’’ straightforward, unrepentantly sincere, unpretentious and triumphantly glorious, without even trying a bit to sound glorious.
Regarding the second and fourth tracks of the album, ‘’Divine Providence’’ and ‘’Ceryneian Hind’’ these are the two songs that have been presented in the aforementioned 2024 EP, which I have reviewed here .
The comment that I should make about these two wonderful songs, is that they are ‘’maturing’’ really well in my mind, showcasing the songwriting’s craftsmanship under which they were written, by the members of the band, who, by the way, are Nick Varsamis (vocals), Chris Mosalos (guitars) Yiannis Tsountaros (bass) and Areti Pournara (drums until 2023 in the band).
The next song ‘’Enceladus’’ named after the Giant of the Hellenic Mythology which was held responsible for the earthquakes, I feel is disclosing the striking connection between IDMON’S AEGIS and WRATHBLADE, since these bands share the same vocalist – lyricist, who seems to be fascinated by these mythological ferocious creatures (Giants were offspring of Gaia: earth and Uranus: sky), which didn’t hesitate to oppose the will of the Olympian Gods (Gigantomachy). The song is indeed very aggressive, with splendid guitar riffs and the vocalist is performing in a certain point, the most harsh, creepy and violent vocals in the album.
‘’ Fare To Fame Eterne’’, is a pompous song that initiates with an acoustic guitar before it bursts to a manifest of continuous recital and chanting, a musical pattern that the late Mark ‘’The Shark’’ Shelton used to love and had written with it, some of the most emblematic songs of MANILLA ROAD.
The next three songs, ‘’August Issue’’, ‘’Warlord’s Return’’ and ‘’Cyanean Rocks’’, are expanding the hymnic atmosphere of the album, under a martial ritual of fire, that pays homage to some other influences of the band such as BROCAS HELM, THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG, DOOMSWORD and IRONSWORD.
I can utter that this is definitely a necessary album for all the epic heavy metal warriors out there.
‘’ Under the Auspices of Idmon’’ has been released on the 6th of March 2025 by Eat Metal Records and is available on CD.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
