Review: “Control” by The Aphelion

The Aphelion is the point in the orbit of an object where it is farthest from the Sun. As with most astrological terms, the word aphelion derives from Greek, apo meaning away, off, apart and Helios meaning Sun. That makes for a cool sounding band name for a Metalcore act hailing from Brighton England, who made their mark with their debut album “Seven” in 2017 and have returned for round #2 with “Control“, a three track EP released in the middle of a Pandemic Summer. In between times they’ve shared stages with the great and the good of the UK Underground Metal scene including Carcer City, Faces of Eve and Jonestown…

…with “Seven“, The Aphelion weren’t afraid of incorporating Progressive moments into their tracks with some ambient and even Post-Hardcore elements bleeding through the mix at various points on the seven track affair and three years down the line with “Control“, those moments are very much still firmly in place. The title track has an Asian inspired opening that is reminiscent of bands like Shokran with some impressive technical prowess while the band have built on the foundations they laid with “Seven” by incorporating some orchestral moments buried in the mix. That gives the chorus an ethereal quality, but if you think they’ve gone soft, guess again as vocalist Ryan Peters doesn’t do anything but a harsh roared vocal throughout, which only drops for a screamed whisper. The slick technical leads of the opening cut continue into “Brute” at pulsating speed and the rhythmic sections boarder on DJent in places, the Metalcore genre tag they’ve given themselves falling as it does for so many, very short as being a description of the music this band creates. Peters uses varied pitching, often between phrasing to deliver his lyrics and the emotive quality of his performance impressive. He means every word and it shows. “Empire” does bring with it some clean vocal moments as well as some buried synths and programming that rounds out the sound and gives The Aphelion another dimension. Having a sing-a-long chorus in this final cut will no doubt make it a live favourite. This sophomore offering confirms that the The Aphelion have found their sound are are honing their skills like a Blacksmith sharpening a blade [8/10]

Track listing

1. Control
2. Brute
3. Empire

“Control” by The Aphelion is out now