Aestees – Galactic Reborn

Aestees hails from Indonesia and released their first EP, Galactic Reborn, last year. The cover art really intrigued me, but unfortunately, I couldn't find any copies of it online. I had to wait for an entire year before I had the chance to listen to it. Did it live up to expectations? Eh, sort of.

I'll just get the biggest problem out of the way first: the production is too muffled. Then again, they're from Indonesia. Most of these bands can't afford fancy recording equipment. They make do with what they have. Aside from that, the music is still good. What really pulled me in was the first song. It features lots of ambient elements before transitioning to clean guitars and solemn electric guitars that sound like they were pulled from a band like Cynic or Atheist. The vocalist also gives this awkward spoken word piece complete with a thick accent, but I'm able to look over this, because the rest of the music is great.

The drums dole out plenty of blast beats and double bass, keeping in line with the rest of the Indonesian scene, but they also play a lot of elaborate fills as well as some slower bluesy parts. The vocals consist of a harsh shouted growl similar to Siksakubur. There are even times when they perform gang vocals, just like Siksakubur. As for the guitars, they sound much more technical than most of their countrymen. Their tone and structure harken back to the early days of technical death metal. The riffs are like Human-era Death, but more brutal. They also make sure to play some chugging rhythms to sate the appetites of those who are more slam-oriented.

The production maybe muffled, but I was still able to enjoy this EP. I loved the complexity of the drums and I loved the exquisite technical riffs and clean guitar sections. I see a lot of promise in these guys, and I hope they can fix the production for the next release.

http://www.reverbnation.com/aestees