UMUR "Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" is the debut full-length studio album by German death metal act Sulphur Aeon. The album was co-released through F.D.A. Rekotz and Imperium Productions in January 2013. Sulphur Aeon was formed in 2010 and released a demo on 2011 and the "Deep Deep Down They Sleep" EP in 2012.

Stylistically the material on the 11 track, 44:44 minutes long album is technically well played and atmopsheric death metal. It´s predominantly fast-paced, but the band occasionally slow things down a bit and play more heavy riffs and rhythms ("Monolithic" is an example of that). Sulphur Aeon produce a massive wall of sound, which provides their music with a majestic atmosphere, and the music is generally more focused on atmosphere than it is riff driven, which in some ways makes it more akin to black metal than to traditional death metal (there´s also a feeling of controlled chaos when the drums blast away under a wall of tremolo picked riffs, that is very similar to the way much black metal sounds). The vocals are death metal growling though and upon closer examination this is definitely a death metal release.

"Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" features a professional and powerful sounding production and Sulphur Aeon are a very skilled act, performing their music with great conviction. So on most parameters "Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide" is a high quality death metal release. Personally I could have wished for more memorable riffs and less focus on atmosphere, because not many tracks stand out with catchy riffs/rhythms or memorable vocal phrases, which means that many of the tracks featured on the album are hard to tell apart. When the band occasionally slows things down or play a more melodic oriented part, that´s when they are most interesting.

Other than those moments the album tends to become a bit of a monotone listen. There are still enough quality elements here to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating, but given the fact that Sulphur Aeon are obviously an incredibly skilled band, it is slightly disappointing that their compositional skills aren´t quite up to par with their performances (at least when it comes to writing memorable tunes). This is a debut album though and I expect the memorability of their songwriting to improve on future releases.

J-Man After releasing a demo and a subsequent EP, Germany's Sulphur Aeon has unleashed their debut full-length in the form of Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide. Released in early 2013, the trio's first observation just reeks of old school death metal aesthetic, and though Sulphur Aeon doesn't aim to create anything startlingly innovative, their firm grasp on brutal and melodic songwriting makes this a solid purchase for death metal listeners. Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide may not be an earth shattering release, but it does what it does very well, and for that I applaud Sulphur Aeon.

Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide is rooted primarily in old school death metal like Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, and Behemoth, but Sulphur Aeon also includes melodic touches and a few doom metal influences to keep the album from falling into monotony. This is first and foremost an old school death metal effort, though, and the suffocating production prevents the album from sounding particularly modern in any sense. M's vocals sound distant and cold, as the use of reverberation gives every grunt a faint echo that suits the music's chilling mood perfectly. Sulphur Aeon create some really killer atmospheres on Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide (just listen to a track like "Incantation"!), and their tremendous capabilities as players make the music even more enjoyable.

Although Sulphur Aeon's debut doesn't contain anything that death metal veterans haven't already heard before, their ability to include subtle melodies and bone-chilling atmospheres into an otherwise traditional form of death metal shows that their talent is above those of most new extreme metal acts. Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide is a solid observation across the board, and an early highlight of 2013 for death metal enthusiasts. Sulphur Aeon is an act to keep your eye on!

adg211288 Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide is the debut full-length album to be released by German death metal act Sulphur Aeon. The album was to be released in late 2012 but got delayed until early 2013. Previously the band has released both a demo and an EP since their 2010 formation. Unlike many other young bands early releases no songs are shared between any of the releases however, Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide is made up entirely of new material from the group, a trio of musicians who prefer to be known enigmatically as M. (vocals), T. (guitars and bass), and D. (drums). T. and D. also play together in the melodic death metal act December Flower.

The sound of Sulphur Aeon though is unmistakeable one of death metal with old school values. Some melodic sections are in evidence for flavour, but don’t detract from the aggression of the riffs and vocals, a noted difference to the stuff I’ve heard from T. and D.’s other band. The approach Sulphur Aeon takes doesn’t vary an awful lot, after the intro track Cthulhu Rites is done all you can really expect from the album is for it to hit you with its pummelling attack of heavy riffs, and deep growling vocals which are more or less incomprehensible. The production work isn’t very polished by modern standards but it’s for that reason that it suits the music so well. Once the first proper song, Incantation, kicks in, the album flows along with a sense of purpose which seems to be purely and simply to kick your arse. All in all, the album has a sound which comes across as being pretty damn thundering to these ears. Kind of a play it loud or not at all kind of album.

Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide may not be an album that breaks the mould in any way, but right from the first I couldn’t help feeling that it does its job very well. I usually prefer my death metal more progressive or technical but this was the kind of non-flashy death metal release that really hit the spot for me, so I imagine that if your death metal tastes typically lie at this end of the genre’s spectrum you’ll love it even more than I do!

85/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/sulphur-aeon-swallowed-by-the-ocean-s-tide-t2721.html))