Album Reviews : Aronora – Aronora

Melbourne’s Aronora were a band that grabbed my attention from the onset. They signed up to the few Australian prog and metal forums around, got in contact with reviewers and media, and recorded two decent quality, three-track demos (titled Home Recordings Volume 1 & 2, naturally) several months apart and mailed them out to whoever wanted a copy. Any band that puts in that hard work early, instead of sitting around bitching that nobody comes to their show, gets my respect.

For those that got their hands on those two demos, you can expect more of the same from their debut, self-titled, proper release. In fact album tracks “Re Run” and “Invisible to the World” were actually amongst those early recordings. For those that don’t know the band, in a nut shell, Aronora take the proggy riffs of bands like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree and mix in the more subtle, ambient side and smooth guitar melodies of Pink Floyd. The balance is spot on, with constant switching between the two to really keep the music going. While the riffs and drumming might not be anything overly unique, it’s the way the music flows and how they blend it all that works so well. When they drop the pace and relax, they do it beautifully, and when they jump into things, they really know how to get the groove going. Aronora are an extremely smooth, natural sounding band.

The three minute opener “Prologue” starts with almost doom-like riffs before building up to a faster, rockier style. An interesting choice for an opening track as it doesn’t really give you an indication of what to come. “Invisible to the World” is a good mix of the earlier bands mentioned, with a gorgeous guitar solo early on. “Taken Away” throws in some Tool into the drums and bass while “Too Late” is much more subdued bringing in some soft post-rock touches.

The seven and a half minute finale “The End” is significantly different from the rest and definitely the highlight for me. It’s a desperate sounding piece with ‘Fading out of consciousness/Drifting into insecure/Lungs start to choke and I’m all out of hope/My time is now’ being slowly sung over a minimalist combination of keys and bass guitar, and authentic sounding tribal drums. A fucking massive sludge riff comes out of nowhere in the latter half, before vanishing in time for a crazy psychedelic freakout bringing the album to a close. Despite how solid the rest of the album is, this absolutely blows away anything prior to it. It’s a phenomenal track.

Apart from a few awkward vocals and times when it sounds like he loses a bit of control over his voice, this is a great album and one that prog fans should give a shot. It’s worth getting for “The End” alone, the other tracks are bonuses. 7/10

For fans of: Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Tool, Pink Floyd.

Band: Aronora
Album: Aronora
Year: 2009
Genre: Progressive Rock
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Self released
myspace.com/aronoramusic

Track listing:
1. Prologue
2. .Invisible to the World
3. Taken Away
4. Out Of View
5. Re Run
6. Too Late
7. The End <- Reviewers choice