Artist : AURIUM

Album : The Second Sun

Release Date : 19-06-2020

Added : 20-08-2020

Album of the playlist 2020 : Metal symphonic albums of the year

‘AURIUM’ is a Serbian project led by singer ‘Milica Jovaov’ which dates from 2012, 2015 having seen the release of the debut album ’Still Life’. So it was 5 years after this first baby that the Serbs recorded their 2nd opus ‘The Second Sun’. In a symphonic metal style with an important use of orchestral arrangements, they offer us 11 tracks for 46 minutes which can recall the major formations of the genre like 'Delain', 'Within Temptation' or even 'Dark Sarah' (upcoming review of her latest album) but also, for my part, even more projects like 'Therion' or 'Imperial Age' due at fairly slow tempos.

All starts with 'Asylum', powerful in a moderate tempo with a first melody that is immediately tamed, then 'Leaden Skies' with its choirs has a 'Within Temptation' side from the 2000s with 'Milica Jovanov' which uses her clear and high-pitched voice in a beautiful way, and 'Curtain's Fall' sees Milica mixing the two clear and lyrical registers in an always very symphonic style. With 'Dead Landscapes' we are closer to the theatrical side of 'Therion', just like with 'Garbage Eater' but this time because of energetic electric guitar riffs, then, 'Timekeeper' reproduces the same pattern as its predecessor. It is with 'Phasiadinae' that we hold the longest title in several parts with very beautiful vocal arrangements, the operatic style being taken to its climax and reminiscent of the greatness of the Russians of the 'Imperial Age'. We still think of 'Therion', but more in the register of 'Beloved Antechrist' metal opera with 'Nodus Tollens' and 'Reminiscence', with its slow and rhythmic tempo and its backing vocals, returns to the heady melodies of 'Imperial Age' just like the mid-tempo 'The Silent Wake', the album ending with a catchy 'Son of the Morning Star' which flirts more with formations like 'Dark Sarah'.

In summary, the Serbs of AURIUM, continue to offer us a symphonic metal rich in influence with a front woman which is much more convincing in a lyrical song which, for me, makes 'The Second Sun' an album which will be more intended for fans of formations like 'Therion' but will also be able to make happy among all those who like symphonic metal in general...

Line Up / Musicians

Milica Jovanov (Vocal), Pavle Savić (Drums), Siniša Mladenović (Bass, Keybords), Slavoljub Pupić (Guitar)