Aeges: Metal Modernists

Featuring members of alt-metal groups Pelican, 16 and Undertow, supergroup Aeges covers ground from shoegazing ambient instrumentation, straight-edge hardcore and sludge metal. Still, their resulting album isn't necessarily any one of those things. Though in no short supply of roost-ruling bass lines and sawing guitars, the heavily distorted debut from these underground luminaries is actually brimming with pop sensibility, featuring sing-along choruses and catchy hooks that get heavy in all the right places.

More a nod to the dingy basement where grunge and alt-metal diverged in the '90s, The Bridge is built over a wall of sound that crosses from pummeling tracks like album opener "Wrong" into the upbeat "My Medicine," before entering the threatening delta of "Southern Comfort." And that's only the first three songs. Mood-shifting and genre-defying, with gorgeous vocal melodies to top it all off, with their first offering the four members of Aeges not only exercise their prowess but set the bar exceptionally high. – Jen Guyre, Google Play

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