Aevum – Glitch Review

This time I am writing about a band I am very familiar with, Aevum. I have reviewed & interviewed them two years ago regarding “Multiverse” album. It is also a band I have been listening for quite a while, to be precise since their “Discronia” tour in 2018. Also recently I have been picking up on their EP’s “My Vampire” & “Nova Vita” to get a better understanding of their musical journey throughout the years. It is now time to dive into their new album – “Glitch”.

In this review I will discuss the following topics: music style, concept , artwork, album itself, videos and in the end everything will be summarised.

Music Style

The following statement: ”Aevum creates art and are not afraid to create something new“ I have made in my previous review perfectly summarise this album. With “Glitch” Aevum went a completely different direction. It left behind their theathrical / symphonic metal roots and explored EBM / Industrial metal. A genre that is normally played by Germans and most often in the German language. Of course like Richard said there some other influences like Jazz as Aevum is not bound to one genre in particular, however for me personally this was the main music style I could identify.

Hearing EBM / Industrial metal in Italian with some English was a mind blowing experience. What’s more, it displayed Lucille’s capabilities as a singer. Her voice can do much more than just singing high notes, with an ease she can do a synthetic voice. But not only Lucille shined on this album, it was Richard as well who brought “Glitch” to a higher level. For the first time he did some vocals. It gave the album a twist and a new dimension as his way of singing is much different than Hydra’s. I believe that in particular for this album it worked quite well as his harsh vocals fit great with the EBM / Industrial metal genre, but also in a way it contrasts and enhances Lucille vocals as well.

”IN GLITCH YOU WILL HEAR A SIDE OF AEVUM YOU HAVEN’T HEARD BEFORE”

Concept

The whole album is centered about a “Glitch”, a mistake that is to say. In order to bring the concept alive the band worked with the director. Doing this the band made sure to make each video different than the other one. On top of this, Lucille was the one who developed the dress code. For a whole explanation about concept you can check the interview here:

In my opinion, it is a great concept despite its complexity. It is a concept if done right that perfectly lends itself for visualisation. An element we can find back in previous albums of Aevum where the videos bring the band and concept alive. This is where I will dive into in the next paragraphes and discuss if the music, artwork and videos fit together with the concept.

”LUCILLE IS NOT ONLY A GREAT SINGER BUT SHE ENHANCED THE WHOLE CONCEPT WITH THE DRESSCODE ”

Music

With this album Aevum has gone a bit overboard, 15 tracks with a running time over around one hour, something you do not see quite often. Nonetheless, I enjoyed each track and the whole album a lot, because each track had a different musical angle, atmosphere or style. For example, with “Black Swan Theory” I was pleasantly surprised to hear Richard sing for the first time, whereas “Lullaby” has a very distinctive intro and other songs you hear Lucille singing in a synthetic voice, something she has not done before.

Due to all the variety you will encounter in the album, I think it makes sense to have 15 tracks for Glitch. Each song has a twist and it has its own flavour, making you curious what you will hear next and hungry for more songs. Moreover, it is a great way for Aevum to display their evolution and showcase what they are truly capable as musicians.

”GLITCH HAS A CRAZY AMOUNT OF TRACKS, HOWEVER IT DOESN’T GET ANYWHERE DULL DUE TO VARIETY EACH SONG HAS TO OFFER”

Artwork

The artwork of Glitch is quite dark and broody with black being the main colour. If you look at the women on the cover they are a bit dismembered. It perfectly refers to the “Glitch” concept – a mistake. According to me, not an odd choice if you look at the genre they have gone for. The music is darker and thus a darker cover breaking off with their coloured albums is a great representation of Glitch.

If you dive deeper in the artwork you will recognise the three weaving goddesses who represent the thread of life. Again a great referral to the concept of the album.

Videos

There is one thing I noticed watching the videos of Glitch; sexuality. If you are familiar with EBM/Industrial it is again not so odd as sexuality is frequently displayed in this music style. According to me, a great part of this genre is all about desire and human nature. Another thing that can be found in the videos is the concept theme: “Glitch”. There are like small mistakes in the videos.

In total 5 videos were recorded: Austerlitz, Black Swan Theory, Holy Alix, Lullaby and Aevum 7. Each video has different moods, lights, atmosphere and effects which is not quite odd as every video has a different musical audio.

Austerlitz

The first video which was released was Austerlitz. For me personally, this was a great introduction to the new album as it somehow reminds you a bit of the old album due to Lucille vocals leaning towards her usual vocals. Also, this video does not display sexuality in a way the other ones do. After watching Austerlitz you are left in a doubt in what direction the album will go, as it is hard to pinpoint from this video the musical as well as the visual style. As a consequence, a great cliffhanger is created and you are hungry for the next video.

Black Swan Theory

The next video Black Swan Theory slowly gives away the direction of the new album, however you are still doubting what the exact music direction would be as the video takes place in old ruins and it’s so strong visually. Despite this, I think it is a great strategy, as it lets you focus on Richard, who sings for the first time. This makes the video very appealing, but also memorable.

Holy Alix

When I watched the third video Holy Alix, I figured out the music style as I was hearing mainly: EBM / Industrial. This style fits with the genre as well as the visual aspects. Specifically, the video is centered about desire, sexuality which is quite common in this genre.

According to Lucille they wanted to create a visual glitch by showing from an elegant type of look to an extreme one and mix it together. This is exactly how I received the message.

Lullababy

The last video we discussed during the interview is Lullaby. The concept was to make it completely ‘Glitchy’. At the beginning the girl puts headphones on and enters a crazy world. Basically you will see a lot of women in the video doing some weird stuff. Again, this kind of video style is common for the EBM / Industrial genre. In the end she takes the headphones off and is wondering what happened. I believe that this video strongly represents the concept, yet I would say the video could have more emphasis on the Glitch ‘happening’ as it went quite fast to notice it at the first glance.

”THE VIDEOS ARE HELPING YOU TO IMMERSE AND GRASP THE GLITCH”

Summary

Glitch is a great album for Aevum listeners as you will hear a musical side of them you haven’t heard before. It is also a great one to attract a new audience, who are into EBM / Industrial music.

For me personally, this is my favourite album so far as there is so much growth in vocals, music side and videos. However, I might be a bit prejudiced as EBM / Industrial is my favourite genre in metal, but there hasn’t been a band I could identify myself with.

Another reason why I love this album so much is the fact that it is visually very strong. It might be my graphic designer background. Although, Aevum has to be given credit for bringing the concept of the album so vividly alive. Every video and the artwork itself are carefully created in order to transmit the Glitch to the viewer. As I have mentioned above already, each song has a ‘mistake’ and the artwork itself references the Glitch concept.

”THERE ISN’T ANY ALBUM THAT BRINGS THE CONCEPT SO VISUALLY AS GLITCH”
MAIr