Multiverse – Aevum Review

22 November 2020 – Dublin

You probably know Aevum from their last tour with Orphaned Land, at least that is how I know them. With their theatrical act, Italian accent and a name that sparks discussions, as there are so many ways to pronounce ‘Aevum’ (Fun Fact: the band themselves about their name – “That is an issue because we are not sure as it comes from Latin and it might be hard to pronounce it…”) it makes the band hard to forget.

Another element that makes the music so unique is Lucille’s soprano voice as it differs immensely from Dutch and Scandinavian soprano singers. The reason for this is the Italian roots and all soprano parts are sung in Italian. Therefore, Aevum is not being in the shadows of bands like Nightwish, After Forever and other bands alike.

”THE ITALIAN AND THEATRICAL ELEMENT NOT ONLY DRAWS THE ATTENTION, BUT THEY ALSO ARE THE FOUNDATION FOR A MUSIC STYLE THAT CANNOT BE FOUND ELSEWHERE”

Before we go into the details let’s talk about how the album looks. At first sight, ‘Multiverse’ looks weird and Non-Metal on your shelf, but when you start listening it makes all the sense, as you are going to travel through the layers of time! Also, it represents the Sci-Fi music theme perfectly as the artwork indeed looks like it comes from space. The Digipack format is a great choice as it strengthens all the above.

”THE ARTWORK PERFECTLY GIVES AWAY THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE AND TIME”

‘Multiverse’ has been a bold move for Aevum, instead of continuing with the music style of ‘Discronia’ they went in a totally different music direction. The seasoned Aevum listeners know that Aevum never produces the same kind of music; for example ‘Impressions’ is more theatrical than ‘Dischronia’ which is more symphonical metal, however with ‘Multiverse’ they took a totally different road.

In my opinion that’s all what art is about: experimenting and travelling to unknown territories, giving fans an unique experience. ‘Multiverse’ went into a more electronic direction with more use of the keyboard, especially ‘Black Honeymoon’ is a very bold one, as the music could be categorized as EBM. Personally, I loved it as I am a big EBM listener myself and this particular song reminds me of Chris Pohl’s latest work.

Another slightly bold move is the fact that Hydra started to growl, which makes the music more dynamic and pleasant to listen to. A good example of a song where Hydra reaches his full potential is ‘Cold Spot’.

Also, something new is the song ‘Tair’ where Lucille sings in French. This makes the song memorable, because it beautifully combines the mood and lyrics of the song.

”AEVUM CREATES ART AND ARE  NOT AFRAID TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW“

One of the things that stayed the same is the seamless duet between Hydra and Lucille. The Italian language still dominates as well which is great as it fits the emotions of songs and gives a unique vibe to their music. I think there is a lot of truth to what Lucy has said in the interview: ”Italian language is used for opera.” The last thing that remains unchanged is that the band is still very complex and every song has multiple layers. The interview we did at D Metal Galaxy helped quite a lot to put everything into perspective. I also fell more in love with Aevum, nonetheless I would have loved a Mediabook, which goes into the details of each song.

In short, I am glad that the band still sings in Italian; Hydra and Lucille are singing together and the music is still complex. This is the core of Aevum which makes the band special!

”AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AEVUM HAS GROWN BUT DID NOT FORGET WHAT MAKES THEM SPECIAL”

A great addition to ‘Multiverse’ is the heavy use of the music videos which help you to immerse you in the album. For me it was ‘Spark of Life’ which got my attention as it was so different. Also, the Sci-Fi topic is not something you often see in Metal at all. As a consequence, the video is brilliant as promotion and introduction material to ‘Multiverse’. The music, lyrics and video are very Sci-Fi and are indicating that Aevum has begun a new journey.

The ‘Time Machine’ introduces you to the theme of the album and I would say this song reminds me of Aevum’s previous work. In my opinion, this video is a good reflection of the theatrical music style of the band for those who haven’t seen the band live. However, in my opinion it would be stronger to start the album with these songs as you are going to travel to the layer of time, so it would make more sense in my view.

”THE VIDEOS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET IMMERSED INTO MULTIVERSE AND GET SMALL TASTE”

In short, ‘Multiverse’ is a fantastic album as there is no other band alike. With this album Aevum has created something truly unique, but at the same time hasn’t forgotten the core elements. The videos themselves were a great addition and helped to make the album more memorable. I am intrigued on what new direction Aevum will go in the future and hopefully someday there will be an album with an Mediabook 😀

”FOR THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE LAYERS OF TIME WILL FIND SOMETHING UNIQUE.”