Album of the Day: As Eden Burns, The Great Celestial Delusion

Honestly, I know very little about As Eden Burns, the now-defunct modern death metal band from Houston, Texas. I could not for the life of me give you a biography of the band or share any especially interesting tidbits about its members or the creation of its music. As far as I can tell from a quick glance at the always-helpful Encyclopaedia Metallum, none of its members were ever in any other bands of note, so I can’t tell you if they’re still making music or working at Payless or what.

But I do know exactly as much as I need to know about As Eden Burns: specifically, that their sole full-length album, 2008’s The Great Celestial Delusion (Willowtip), is so goddamn good that I dream of an alternate universe where it got the attention it deserves and the band is, consequently, still together, and regularly a part of modern metal package tours like Summer Slaughter. The album really is that killer.

I can’t imagine that fans of modern death metal acts like The Black Dahlia Murder, All Shall Perish, and Job for a Cowboy wouldn’t dig As Eden Burns.  Delusion is forty-three minutes of expertly composed Carcassian DM, the kind of stuff that will flay your skin off and get lodged right in your brain. Tempestuous riffs roll over and pancake the listener like massive boulders; guitarists Harrison Jacob and Chris Borsheim trade licks so sweet they might as well be lesbian kittens; drummer Lee Eubanks plays like his feet are on fire and he’s desperately trying to put ’em out. Or, put more succinctly: what’s not to love about The Great Celestial Delusion?

You can stream the album below, and buy it here. Remember to tell your friends! Maybe we can get some kinda AEB renaissance/reunion thing goin’.