"Thor's hammer crashed to the earth with a mighty rumble. When the smoke cleared, there were some guys. Some stuff happened that set the mood, something about a quest to rock some towns, and now we play melodeath."
Æther Realm
is a Melodic Death Metal band from Greenville, North Carolina, formed in 2010. Originally a three-piece band, they were joined by second guitarist Donny Burbage in 2014.
Heavily influenced by the Scandinavian melodeath scene, the band mixes harsh and clean vocals from Lead Bassist Vincent Jones with a flexible musical style that can easily switch between easy-listening Hard Rock to brutal blast beats depending on the song. They independently released their debut album, One Chosen By the Gods, in 2013, and were signed by Austrian heavy metal label Napalm Records in 2018.
Members:
- Vincent Jones — bass, vocals (2010-present)
- Tyler Gresham — drums (2010-present)
- Heinrich Arnold — guitars, vocals (2010-present)
- Donny Burbage — guitars (2014-present)
Discography
- One Chosen By the Gods (2013)
- Tarot (2017)
- Redneck Vikings from Hell (2020)
Tropes:
- Air Guitar: The video for "TMHC" features the band and its fans playing and singing along to the song on whatever's available, such as Vince playing air guitar on a vacuum cleaner.
- Berserk Button: Despite sounding like a lot of Finnish melodeath bands, the band are from eastern North Carolina, not Finland, as their all-caps slogan "WE ARE NOT FROM FINLAND" helpfully reminds.
- Bury Your Art: An In-Universe example in the video for "TMHC" when the band decides to delete the entire Redneck Vikings from Hell album in a fit of COVID-19 Pandemic-induced Cabin Fever.
- Epic Rocking: "The Magician", an eight-minute track in the tradition of Ensiferum and Wintersun with multiple tempo and tonal changes.
- Everything Is an Instrument: The video for "TMHC" features the band and its fans playing and singing along to the song on whatever's available, such as opening and closing cabinet doors, using drumsticks on a baffled-looking cat, and beating on waffles placed on a drum kit.
- Gargle Blaster: The product of a Hillbilly Moonshiner in "King of Cups". According to Christopher Bowes, it has fermented for seven years in an oaken cask, and "Now it's time, the drink is ready / This booze will kick your ass!" Vince replies, "One drink and you'll feel the magic / Two drinks and you'll beg for more / Three drinks and your world is spinning / One last drink and you'll hit the floor"
- Heavy Mithril: "The Magician", which describes a novice magician having a Heel Realization about the dark nature of the group he's joined and fleeing into the mountains to gain the strength to defeat them.
- Lead Bassist: Vince is the band's frontman, performing as both lead vocalist and bassist.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: "Redneck Vikings from Hell", neatly encapsulating the band's deliberately goofy image.
- Soprano and Gravel: Vince can switch-hit between cleans and harshes at will, with Heinrich providing backing cleans.
- Special Guest:
- Christopher Bowes of Alestorm does guest vocals on "King of Cups" and has an uncredited cameo in the video for "TMHC".
- Logan Lawson of South Carolina-based Death Metal band As Oceans plays the title character in the music video for "The Magician". The band often gets him onstage with him for that song when they play live in the Carolinas.
- Spelling for Emphasis: In "Redneck Vikings from Hell":We spell 'Valhalla' in the redneck way
C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A! - Xtreme Kool Letterz: Officially the band uses a ligatured "Æ" character to spell their name.
- You Are Not Alone: The Central Theme of "Guardian", which consists of the speaker telling the listener that he will be their guardian from loneliness and a hostile world.
