Album Review: Aphyxion – Ad Astra (Circular Wave)

Danish melodic metal/metalcore outfit Aphyxion will release their brand-new album, ‘Ad Astra’ on the 10th of February 2023 via Circular Wave.

The build to this album release has done little to whet the appetite, in fact, it has only increased the hunger. Especially when it kicks off with such an absolute banger called Roll the Dice. A track that features heavy head-banging groove and one hell of an anthemic chorus. It’s a masterpiece of heavy metal, where the slam of the instruments and roaring vocals are perfectly balanced with the cleaner chorus. It will be stuck in your head for days afterwards. Especially because the ache in your neck serves as reminder of how hard you banged your head to it.

How do you top that? By leaning into modern metalcore areas and delivering yet another anthemic adrenaline hit in the form of Memory Trace. Before hitting another chorus-led high with Pathless. Aphyxion are sounding particularly heavy here, killer breakdown and all, and the collaboration with Siamese’s Mirza Radonjica really pays off.

Another pair of collaborations that pays off is when Aphyxion team up with Chaosbay on Oceans of Time and IMMERSE on Heavy Shadows. The former is energetic, heavy and very hooky. Whereas the latter has some real meatiness to it, with an underlying darkness running through it. Both immensely catchy and memorable.

In between those tracks Aphyxion keep the metalcore heat turned up with the aggressive blast of Rover, and the blend of frenzied speed and measured intensity of Anomalies. Before Out of Breath and Neon Billboards prove that this album isn’t losing any of its lustre as it reaches the latter portion. Two raging metalcore bangers with massive, dramatic melodic highs and crunching heavy lows. Consistently punchy and constantly anthemic music from a band on absolute fire.

There’s no doubting that Ad Astra may very well be the album that puts Aphyxion on the metalcore map properly. It’s their play for the big time and that it keeps things interesting right up to the very end, is so impressive. Fade to Black and Not Gonna Make It. Two more anthems to make you move, head-bang, and cheer with unrivalled pleasure.

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