Aum Shinrikyo

 Long time no read! Forgive me father for I have sinned, it’s been 4 years since my last review. While plenty of stellar albums have been released since the last post on here, there is really only one worth writing about. 

Down I Go are back! Well back is a relative term, they never really went away. But they’re as back as 3 Englishmen living in 3 separate countries can be. After years of teasing fans with new music, they released their latest album on October 7th of 2022 entitled Aum Shinrikyo. 

These fucking guys, man. They’re like Pokémon that never stop evolving. It’s like having 3 Wayne Gretzky’s all playing on the same hockey team. It’s like 3 Gordon Ramsay’s working in the same kitchen. Pick whatever your favorite thing is and multiply it by 3; Aum Shinrikyo is the product of that thing.

Aum Shinrikyo is everything that Down I Go have done well, but taken to another level. All of the basic elements of Down I Go are present. Alan is riffing the guitar to pieces, Pete is harmonizing with himself 8 times over while simultaneously shouting his vocal chords out of existence, and Ben is backbone-ing the chaos.Thus far, every album has an identifiable characteristic that’s a part of each of them. You can hear a song and say “This one is from the Gods EP” or “This is Disastercore.” While the same can be said of Aum, certain tracks have moments that almost recall moments from previous albums. Almost like little Easter eggs for listeners to hear and say “this is familiar.”  

The triumphant return of brass is the obvious starting place. It makes its presence known about 45 seconds into the first track and they do not stop shining. In some areas they compliment the music around them, in other areas they are the front of action. Voice of God is the prime example of this. 

Then there are also little moments within tracks that pull you back to their previous works. I’m not a musician, I know shit about dick when it comes to technical things; but when it comes to the tone or tuning in the first track all I can think of are the heavy hammering moments that come out of the Mortals EP. Another example of a brief moment is one riff at the 1:00 mark of you don’t leave. It almost sounds like the T-1000 riff off of robot core. Then there is the shrieking  “Down I Go” shout at the end of Voice of God. I think that’s my favorite aspect of the album as a whole, there moments that only last 4 seconds, but have 15 years of context behind them. 

As far as favorite tracks go, it’s hard to pick because every song is so spectacular. It’s only after nearly 3 months of heavy listening that I’ve been able to pick one. 25 Wise Members has to take the cake, because it’s the only one that feels different than the others. It’s a prime example of what Down I Go do best. Every album they do is a concept album; their strongest point as a band is SOUNDING like the subject that is being explored. Like the cult itself, Aum is heavy in its brutality and organized in its chaos, but also captures the moments of misery endured by its followers, as well as the innocent victims of their crimes. Through all of their work, this is the first time I’ve actually FELT the subject. 25 wise members is what I imagine it would feel like to be in the cult. It’s fun. It makes you want to get everybody you know and shout along while dancing. Its infectious. It feels well in its intent, even though it’s malicious in its words.

While there are hundreds of things that I haven’t tackled that make this album special (the Taiko, the call and response, Stuart Warwick, etc.) no one person can cover them all. If you’re reading this as a long time fan, consider writing your own review. They put a lot of work into something and to have it go under appreciated by us would be unfair. If you’re a new fan, welcome to our cult (there’s dozens of us!) and consider actually buying the album. We can’t get more gems like this if we don’t pay for them.