I could commence with a little rant of how these don’t quite match up to my essentialist conceptions of the typical Aussies, and with all that sun, shrimps and surfing they can’t display the same authenticity in their miserablism as those oppressed Yorkshire folk (see Paradise Lost – Gothic review), but that’s getting kind of old now. However, it seems that there is something missing here. The Eternal was conceptualised by Mark Kelson after the fragmentation of former band Cryptal Darkness. While I found great appeal in the lachrymose beauty of his former band, it was hard to ignore the striking replication toward My Dying Bride. It was an enjoyable enough listen once I switched off that critical voice that said it’s about as original as your average metalcore band.
In a similar way, after several attempts to get into this album I find myself with mixed opinions. This is by no means a bad album, and there are plenty of positive things I could find to say about it. Some of the tracks on the record are rather appealing and contain some attractive elements, such as ‘Silence’ with it’s lively paced keyboard melody and passionate vocals which I find sit quite well on the ears. There is some intricate guitar work on ‘Self Inflicted’ which has a Paradise Lost stamp smattered across its sound, although the track itself I find to be rather dull. There is a middle eastern slant on ‘Blood’ that feels exotic and a little quirky, with it’s melodies and warbling that draws me into a world of belly dancers and pyramids, although this is let down by an ineffective verse that sounds as though they had run out of steam.
While there are moments during these sixty+ minutes that have me listening attentively and jotting down words of praise, they are very much spread unevenly across these 12 tracks and in those long stretches in-between, I find it a mountainous task to prevent my attention from being diverted into daydreams of something a little bit more lustrous. The technical ability is there but they just lack the special ingredient to really make this album stand out. ‘Lost Our Way’ has quite an upbeat chorus that finds me singing along, and there is a nice atmosphere lent by the keyboards that backs this up, while ‘Illuminate’ comes in with a plodding drum beat and maundering bassline that builds into a crunchy chorus that brings to mind Sentenced.
On the whole this album bears a strong Paradise Lost-esque flavour that should appeal to fans of the band. While this offers nothing new to the genre and is unlikely to have anyone frothing at the mouth, it is a passable release, and one worth picking up if under a fiver.
http://www.the-eternal.com
www.myspace.com/theeternalband
