A3ON hail from Leeds, UK and consist of Evelyn Labyrinth (electric guitar, percussion, kopuz); Adonia Hart (organ, electric guitar, vocals); Wilhnhilda Youngblood (bass, qanun); Qabaris Watevior (electric guitar, percussion and Sandalphon (drums, darbuka). The band jam a groove that blends trippy Eastern exotica with Western doom, post-metal and heavy psych. A3ON have released a slew of mostly instrumental EP's and albums since their formation but as of yet have not quite received the recognition they deserve for their hard work, something that will hopefully change with the release of their sparkling new album "Theotokas".
A3ON kick things off with the heady and exotic "Golgotha," a track featuring Middle Eastern traditional stringed instruments layered over a tribalistic drum groove, further enriched by droning keyboard textures. They then pivot to "Hesychasm," the song a stark contrast to its predecessor, with its riff-driven, heavy, and unmistakably dank and doomic sound. These two tracks alone showcase the breadth of diversity A3ON offers in their latest release. However, it's when the band fuse those eastern textures and colours with the dank refrains and rhythms of doom and post-metal that things get really interesting with the prime example of this fusion being the deliciously dank but heady "Constantinople". Here we do not only get thrumming dank refrains we also get spiralling call to prayer like vocalisation tied to thunderous rhythms that possess a slightly off centred quality Whereas doom was the driving force on the previous track "YHVH" sees the bands eastern influences take precedent with laid back guitar textures taking a backseat to their more ancient counterparts. The songs overall feel is exotic and trippy but there is also an undercurrent of darkness in its gait thanks to its backdrop of drone-like keyboard effects. Title track "Theotokas" has an almost stoner-doom vibe going on, its slightly repetitive and slow building groove is driven by sparse drumming that is heavier on the cymbals than it is on the skins, if we have one complaint about this song is that with all that building you would expect the song to finish in a big big finale but instead it just fizzles into silence.. Next song "Bethlehem" comes over like an eastern take on the iconic "Dualling Banjo's" only here backed by crashing drums and hand percussion and instead of being a trade off between guitar and banjo is played on a kopuz (a Turkish fretless stringed instrument) and a qanan (a zither like instrument from the Middle-East). "St Basil" follows and is another slow building tome only this time with a cinematic feel, a song that would make the perfect soundtrack for a desert themed Hollywood blockbuster as would its follow up the excellent "TheGospelofMary". "Schism" starts off much where the previous song finished only here the groove is spliced with a little more texture and colouring. The album closes its account with "MeditationOnKether" an atmospheric drone heavy instrumental that would probably work better as an intro to a full song rather than the closing piece of a full album, either way it is strangely impressive if a little unsettling
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