This CD is simply amazing. Flavors of medieval times swirl....sweeping hills and valleys....majestic cathedrals and castles...villages gathering, creating a festival like atmosphere...flames dance atop their torches as stars sparkle in the night sky above.

The beauty of this album starts with the cover. A mysterious and enchanting doorway....once you go through, a new world appears. This music is beautifully written, and wonderfully produced, and is unlike any musical experience you've ever had. Soaring vocals...gothic drums echo throughout...14th century strings to accompany. T'is a feast for your musical soul, and if you listen closely enough, you just might hear yourself.


Inspired by Renaissance music, Dead Can Dance excel   June 6, 2001
Christopher Culver
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

Released in 1990, AION shows Dead Can Dance, the duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, exploring styles of Medieval times and the Renaissance. The production is excellent, and it ranks among DCD's best albums.

AION opens with "The Arrival and the Reunion," a short piece that shows off Lisa's amazing voice as overdubs allow her to provide her own polyphony, with David Navarro Sust (a collaborator on 1989's THE SERPENT'S EGG) providing backing vocals.

There are a number of quiet, instrumental pieces on this album which sound highly authentic, such as "Saltarello" (which really is a piece from the 14th century), "Wilderness," and "The Garden of Zephirus."

As with any Dead Can Dance album, there are songs that feature either Brendan or Lisa more heavily. Lisa provides among others "Radharc," "The Promised Womb," and "The Song of the Sibyl," although for that last one I prefer the live version on TOWARD THE WITHIN.

Brendan gives us the tragicomic "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book" and the odd "Black Sun."

It's remarkable how this album, the first after Lisa and Brendan split up (she went to Spain, he went to Ireland), features such excellent collaboration. Definitely one of Dead Can Dance's best albums, although I think the best is WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN.


It's true! The dead CAN dance!   December 25, 2002
Clarissa (Ontario, California)
37 out of 40 found this review helpful

'Aion' was my introduction to Dead Can Dance (DCD) and it has truly made a fan of me! The choral explosion on "Arrival and the Reunion" [pulled] me in fast as it reminded me a lot of neo-goth group, Mors Syphilitica. Then comes a 14th-century instrumental piece called "Saltarello", which has a great Renaissance dance beat that's really quite irresistible when it comes to swaying in your stilled position! The music slows down a bit once "Song of the Sibyl" comes on though as it features very little background noise. Instead it focuses solely on the chilling vocals of Lisa Gerrard's shaky yet affective vibrato. One of the best Dead Can Dance songs with Lisa singing on vocals however would have to be "As The Bell Rings the Maypole Spins", which features some incredible bagpipe playing!

I love both of the duo's voices so I really appreciate the fact that they trade-off after "Song Of The Sibyl" from Lisa to Brendan Perry, whom sings on the subtle Medieval tune, "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book". It's on the haunting "Black Sun", which brings to mind the dark brilliance of 'Within The Realm of a Dying Sun', that his somber baritone truly succeeds in tantilizing the listener with his seductive vocals though! And while the eastern influenced "Radharc" may arguably be the best song on 'Aion', the entire album is a delightful treat for the senses and I couldn't recommend it any higher!


Haunting, timeless, beautiful,   October 17, 2005
Bachelier (Ile de France)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Aion is the most accessible and widely enjoyed album by non-hard core Dead Can Dance fans. Although short, it merits an immediate repeat listening. Of all DCD records, this is the first one to try.

Fans of a cappela choral music will enjoy this work, as well as post-punk fans of Cocteau Twins, shoegazer, and progressive rock. While this selection does offer a complex instrumental arrangements, those whose first introduction to polyphonic chant from the wildly popular "Chant" album of The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos will not be disappointed with this bridge between two worlds.

The song "Black Sun" is notable for Brendan Perry's haunting baritone vocals over repetitive droning strings and reed instruments, with driving nested percussion the reminds one of David Byrne and Brian Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts."

Other selections feature Lisa Gerrard's haunting controlo soprano solos and harmonies that immediately invoke and make modern compositions from Hildegard von Bingen.

4AD is a label known for seeking and promoting music that invokes a sense of timelessness. Dead Can Dance's "Aion" is an exemplary instance of that goal, you will not be disappointed.