Aeon @ Royal Park Cellars
By Jah Fallon
The first instalment in what was to be another very memorable night. 10,000 Things arrived with a nice solid bass, wild guitar sounds, decent vocals, a sharp percussionist and some disappointing drums, but left me feeling somewhat thwarted by a distinct lack of thought. This band brought an 80's rock sound, with a somewhat early 'Rolling Stones' style, and clashed it with a pinch of 'Stone Roses', giving an average rock band an average sound. 10,000 Things have all the ingredients to make a descent blues/rock band, but for now they're good crowd warmers and worth seeing with other bands as they'll tickle your eardrums.
This band could do well but they need to find some focus and drive, as music is a reflection of your attitude towards the universe. This not to say they won't be successful or liked as there are plenty of remanufactured rock bands out there, who have a focus and drive other than music, but that requires a manager and ruthless business practices.
The Downfall are an excellent 3 piece, involving very active kick ass bass, nu-metal, pop/rock style guitar, wailing vocals and nu-metal/rock drums. This trio brought plenty of excitement to the evening with a variety of pop/rock styles such as Deftones, Limp Bizkit, Foo Fighters, and Greenday and twangs some heavier bands such as, Feeder, and Metallica. All 3 members put on an excellent show, giving the audience an enthusiasm in performance, which deserves their praise. This band worked very well together with sharp timing and good solid sounds that got you rocking. A definite must see band if you get a chance go see them.
The grand finale of the night was of course Aeon. This 5 piece just keeps getting better with their technically amazing drummer, an amazing dark and seedy lead guitar with plenty of widdly solos, a rhythm guitarist, who is also the vocalist whose performance and intuitive response to the audience deserves the greatest praise. The dynamic and sometimes perplexing techno-industrial sounding keyboard player, whose pulsing sounds and ambient waves, with almost 'NIN' qualities adds a whole new level to the music. Also the monolithic deep action bass keeps that knee jerk going and your internal organs moving.
This obviously well experienced and professional band mixes many styles including metal, industrial, and pop rock. A well-organised sound with orchestral qualities makes their sound big enough to make your ears bleed, heavy enough to knock you of your seat straight on to your feet. The use of an electric and acoustic drum kit I was very impressed with and the sheer number of changing effects throughout the songs was staggering. If you're a music lover this band will give you enough complexity in their songs to keep you occupied for hours trying to work out what's going on.
This is one of best bands I've seen and probably the most rock as well and definitely one of the most original bands in a long while. If you have any respect for the rock 'n' roll side of music come and see Aeon you won't regret it.
