Due to storm across the extreme metal landscape on January 26 when it's released via Candlelight Records, Opus Aethereum is - as you might expect from a band who've been biding their time by honing their craft on the extreme metal gig circuit - a carefully wrought and fully-fledged sonic beast. Featuring eight blasts of vaulting, supremely confident and symphonically astute black metal, its furious, soul-ruffling currents have picked up a few traces of death metal in its slipstream, assuring that Ethereal's capacity for pomp never loses its visceral edge.