If you were as surprised as I was that this year in music was still going as hard as it ever did in November, get ready, because we aren’t even done yet. Aara are a band that stole my heart from the very first time I listened to them, and I haven’t looked back yet. Last year saw them drop the long awaited (by me, if no one else) conclusion to their trilogy focusing on Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer, and that trilogy saw the Swiss trio explore philosophy and literature the way only they can. Now, with Eiger, the band sets their sights higher, quite literally…
Since forming in just 2018, Aara have averaged one album per year, making Eiger their sixth full-length release in that time, although work on Eiger actually began before the Melmoth Triade was even complete. Most of the songwriting for Eiger was done between 2022 and 2023, again handled by the main compositional duo of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Berg and vocalist/lyricist Fluss. Drums, courtesy of J who rounds the trio out, and acoustic guitars, as well as mixing and mastering were all handled this year, and so even though Eiger is coming out nearly twenty months after Triade III: Nyx, the seeds planted long ago are brought to fruition. Those seeds are planted in a different conceptual garden this time, however: in moving on from philosophy and literature, Aara turn to history to supply the concept for this release. Eiger (the album) is named after the 3967 meter (that’s 13,015 freedom meters to us Americans) mountain located in the Bernese Alps of the same name. Eiger (the mountain) is significant because of its particularly treacherous conditions, and the fact that at least 64 climbers have died trying to scale the north face of the mountain. The mountain is so unforgiving that it has earned the local nickname of “Mordwand” or “Murder Wall.” Eiger (the album) tells the story of one particular ill-fated attempt on the summit by ten Austrian and German climbers. One of the group died in a training climb, before the real event even got underway, and five others turned back due to bad weather. The four who were left made an attempt at climbing, but three were killed in an avalanche, and the final member of the expedition froze to death, mere feet away from a group of guides sent to rescue him.
Musically, not too terribly much is different about the Aara that I have come to rely on for somber, poignant black metal. Berg’s sense of melody and composition, especially for counterpoint, is just as strong as ever, and it’s what carries this album for me. That and the absolutely ballistic drum work from J, who is absolutely on fire on this album in a way I cannot remember him being before. The production work is also much more clean and polished, which lets the individual components shine out more. More prominently than ever featured here is acoustic guitar; I wasn’t really sure why they needed to be recorded separately, but they make up such a large part of Eiger that I can see exactly why they needed special attention. Expertly woven between and over the furious black metal that makes up Eiger, they do a lot of work to add something along the lines of grandeur and ambience to music that is already prone to sweeping grandness and tender moments of beauty. And yes, Fluss’ vocals are definitely not going to be to everyone’s taste, but you can’t deny that she is putting on a performance here that really puts you in the headspace of being up against a thing of immense and terrifying proportions.
Aara continues to be one of my favorite black metal bands going, and I truly hope they maintain the pace that they have been going at for just a little while longer, because I cannot get enough. There is always one special December album that spells an upset for my year end list, and Eiger is that album. Now, I should probably start working on those lists before something else comes along…
— Ian
Eiger will be available December 6 on Debemur Morti Productions. For more information on Aara, visit their Facebook page.