Northern Ireland War Jazz Hellions Acid Age have finally unleashed their third full lenght album Semper Pessimus, it's been five years since their last output the fantastic Like a Runaway Combine Harvester in a Field of Crippled Rabbits, the long overdue wait has been truly worth it, this album is something truly special and needs to be heard to be believed how sublime it is.
Been a long time Fan/Follower of this band since their inception in 2013, the progreesion of their sound and musicianship has got better with each release and finally in my opinion they've reached that undoubted potential i could see when i first heard them,anyway enough of the superlatives for now let's get down to the guts of this album.
The concept of the album is based around Nero, The last Emperor of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty,each song tells a story of his Tyrannical and Murderous reign; the opening track The Shameless Lyre sets the tone for the whole album perfectly,the spoken word/rhyme section creates an extremely sinister tone for the story to unfold,midway through the song there's a brilliantly executed Millitant style drum solo courtesy of the ultra talented Aran Howe.
There's a very prevelent Progressive structure to the music not too dissimilar to Blind Illusion and Watchtower, Jude's absolutely Stellar Guitar work combined with Jake's insanely Bombastic Basslines are absolutely awe inspiring and almost head exploding at times; there's also a level of brutality/heaviness which is designed to bludgeon and destroy to a level never experienced before, this is also the first time the band decided to go with analog production(previous releases were all digital production), this was a very smart idea as it gives the sound a very old school feel but still the band maintain a level of originality you're unlikely to hear in any modern albums.
This is a release everyone need to listen to at least once, every track on offer has something unique and special to it, my personal favourites would either be Banquet Of The Dead or The Burning of Rome but the album as a whole offers plenty of absolutely Top Notch songs, if you decide not to listen to this you'll regret it big time, this is some top level musicianship you're not likely to hear anytime soon.
Digital and Physical copies of The album can be purchased at the link below
https://acidage.bandcamp.com/album/semper-pessimus
Album is also available on Spotify(Link Below)
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Eno0kIBP6OtMloNqBdvcc?si=tSUm5p40Sn2DxBv1cppI7w
Checkout the bands You Tube Channel at the link below
https://www.youtube.com/user/acidagethrash
While you're at it follow the band on Facebook(Link Below)
https://www.facebook.com/acidagethrash
