Photo by Suzy LetourneauThe word aphasia has roots in Ancient Greek, translating literally into "speechlessness." It darkened heralded poet Ralph Waldo Emerson's final years, and its modern use refers to a specific set of speech disorders, characterized by an afflicted person's losing the ability to speak after brain trauma. It's heavy stuff, though not exactly the usual fire and brimstone we generally expect from extreme metal titling efforts. Anicon is far from typical, though, so it makes sense that a cerebral chimera of a band would latch onto a word with such hidden horror. You have to pay attention to figure out just how much evil is present, and that sums Anicon up perfectly.The NYC black metal outfit's own Aphasia is rife with lean, muscular riffs, born of urban decay but still eerily reminiscent of their kin from snowswept Scandinavia. Anicon has always sounded more European than anything else, occupying space as an interesting anomaly in a USBM scene that's finally come into its own. There's no Cascadian gossamer here, nor brutish blasts, not Quebecois finesse; it's not especially raw (though the production is far from polished), or self-consciously primitive. It simply is what it is: unapologetically smart, stormy melodic black metal with a frozen core.Aphasia is out today, self-released by the band as a digital-only Bandcamp download. I've heard tell that a new full-length is in the works, though, so these songs just might pop up in physical form sooner than we'd expect. For now, get acquainted with the latest offering from one of North America's finest black metal bands.
Kim Kelly is getting Behe-lit on Twitter - @grimkim