50 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2017

The fact that Persefone didn’t set the world afire in 2017 with their newest album Aathma is an inexcusable crime. Symphonic, progressive, melodic, eclectic, atmospheric, electronic and crushingly heavy, the Andorran rockers’ fifth release is, from a technical standpoint, one of the greatest musical achievements of the year, to the point where it’s difficult to know where to start when analysing it.

The sheer diversity of instruments that Persefone have at their disposal and the way that they are utilised goes a great way to make Aathma the success that it is. And while that may sound like the most generic statement in the history of music criticism, hear me out: such incorporations as keyboards, duelling lead guitars and three singers give Aathma an enormous scope and gorgeous versatility, often balancing out polyrhythmic death metal with well-timed cleans, harmonic gang vocals and classically-inclined beauty.

Lead single “Living Waves” is a true masterclass in electronic metal, while such raucous cuts as “Prison Skin” and “No Faced Mindless” resonate with undying tech-death thunder, reflecting Atheist at their fastest with Jordan Rudess’s piano chucked in for good measure.

And, of course, who can forget Aathma’s indomitable title track, which has powerful suites that combine to bring twenty minutes of guttural beauty. With heavenly choirs, ambient atmospherics, diverse singing and time signature transformations galore, this closing slice of brilliance is the perfect microcosm of everything that is great not only about the godly Persefone, but also progressive/extreme metal as a whole.