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Whether or not it is a growing trend, I have encountered many one-man bands lately, which especially seems logical in my mind when I consider obvious world events and that perhaps staying indoors and creating one's own music seems a safe and healthy way to express one's emotions through these difficult times. In the case of Aeon of Eternal, the one-man band that is the subject of this review, expression of emotion is at the heart of the effort, evident by the dynamic presentation on The Wanderer.

While the sole band member who operates under the pseudonym "Aeon" wrote and performed all of the music, there are session musicians included on this effort which play a huge role in the arrangements, those being male and female clean vocalists and a great guitarist in Tomasz Radzy?sk, who provides a few outstanding solos on the record. While Aeon's vocals are deep, Death Metal growls, they are frequently met with gentle cleans from the guest singers in an effective and beautiful way. The record runs at a Doom Metal pace, blending Death Metal vocals and occasionally blackened guitar riffage, providing a wide range of sounds and energies which seamlessly meld into a sound that just fits perfectly. The quiet moments are ethereal while the large segments are bombastic at times. The record sounds very good at any drop of the needle.

Highlight moments for me are mostly packed into the first half of the record. The first track, "Niwl," reaches a particularly epic atmosphere at its apex which may be described as Epic Heavy Metal with Black Metal-tinged guitar harmonies in the mix. It sounds excellent, complemented with strong guitar melodies and powerful vocal deliveries. The guest vocals in "Sumu" really amplify the emotive and delicate energies to gorgeous levels, and the chill jam session that occurs before the last energy ramp at the end of the song is really fun to listen to. The guitar solo in the middle of "Daruuraha" is another moment that does not easily leave my head, being very tuneful and hitting all the sweet spots melodically.

Usually when listening to a great sounding record for the first time, I'm eager to get through to the end so I can replay it soon and enjoy the cool moments again and again. However, with this album, on the first listen I found myself experiencing a different sensation. I really just did not want this album to end, and instead I wanted to see where this Metal journey would take me, as the overall mood and direction was continuously compelling and engaging within its sprawling textures. After now having listened to the album close to ten rotations, that feeling has worn off a bit, but the album still sounds excellent every time it's on. It should also be stated that to best experience this record, one should really not listen to it while doing other tasks, as this record makes its deepest impact when one allows themselves to fully dedicate their attention to it. There are so many subtleties in the details of this record that will not be caught so well in a casual listen. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, I have heard a lot of one-man bands recently, but this is easily among the best I have dedicated my listening time to, and I will continue to enjoy this record further. This is a fantastic debut by a band only formed in 2020, so please do go check this out!