No, ‘Absolute’ is not the best Aion album. ‘Aionism’ will probably forever hold that title for me. Given the time it came out, however, it is quite surprising how good the album is. It came out on the heels of their far too upbeat self-titled album and the rather plodding ‘Z’ and was pretty much the final peak before the band descended into a decade of increasingly forgettable albums. One of the reasons why ‘Absolute’ stands out is that it has a character of its own within Aion’s discography, having a classy, melodic heavy metal sound the band never really attempted before or since.

It is impossible to mistake ‘Absolute’ for any other band than Aion though. The unmistakable voice of Nov goes a long way in achieving that feat. He has a pitch and grit comparable to OverKill’s Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth, but audibly has considerable experience singing more melodic rock music as well. The songs on ‘Absolute’ occasionally have a very melodic J-rock character, but Nov tackles those with the same flair as the harder-driving heavy metal songs. Aion has been balancing speed metal, traditional heavy metal and J-rock since ‘Aionism’ and after being largely absent from its predecessor, the speed metal element fortunately returns on ‘Absolute’.

As a result, the tracks with pronounced speed metal elements are generally my favorites on ‘Absolute’. ‘Elegant Fear’ in particular is a masterpiece. Its main riff has elements of aggression and melancholy at the same time and the way Izumi rapidly switches between clean and distorted guitars lends the song a tremendously dynamic feel. Opening track ‘Anguished Heroes’ even borders on thrash metal with its scorching tempo and defiant chorus. This combination of a relatively open riff and busy bass work by Dean is not that common in the genre though. Near the end, ‘Demoniac Insanity’ is another short burst of aggressive energy.

That does not mean that only the metallic tracks are worth hearing, however. ‘Missing’ is one of the album’s highlights and though it starts with a riff that would not sound out of place on a speed metal record, it largely is a very elegant melodic J-rock track with fantastic vocal harmonies and a surprisingly sparse guitar solo in terms of number of notes, which is also largely harmonized. If lead guitar is what you like, the stylish closing instrumental ‘Peter -The Seventh Moment Of Eternity-‘ should be up your alley. ‘Astia’ is a somewhat funky rock track that would not have been out of place on one of Gargoyle’s early albums. The semi-ballad ‘Last Serenade’ is quite an interesting composition as well.

While it would go too far to call ‘Absolute’ a masterpiece – a couple of tracks are slightly too repetitive for that, ‘High Flying Shadow’ in particular – it is far better than anything in this phase of Aion’s career should have been. There are simply too many good guitar riffs and memorable vocal melodies to dismiss ‘Absolute’ as another album from the period when Aion was slowly declining. As stated in the beginning of this review, I far prefer it to its two predecessors and it might be my second favorite album the band has ever made. Definitely worth a listen if you like the more elegant side of heavy metal and aren’t afraid of the occasional poppy melody.

Recommended tracks: ‘Elegant Fear’, ‘Anguished Heroes’, ‘Missing’