Into Everlasting Death
Eerie
•
February 17, 2015

BEHEMOTH's impact on the Polish Black Metal scene is becoming nigh-on undeniable as we start to see a new generation of Polish Black Metal bands rise from the Blackened Death Metal titan's path of apostasy and mayhem. One of these is EERIE, who debuts with their 4-track full-length album "Into Everlasting Death", of whom I must admit my initial assessment is a double-edged blade.
My first impression of the band when I kicked off the album into the first track "Mining Out Of Black Earth" was one of mild disappointment as the song waited a mere 7 seconds before turning into a full-on but sadly not very exciting blast beat frenzy of the kind we've heard more times than we could count. But once the initial attack died out, my disappointment turned into genuine surprise as EERIE turned out to be more than the average, or perhaps below average, single-minded Black Metal band as they started showing off influences from both Progressive and Doom Metal, while still remaining very firmly rooted in Black Metal, and a solid utilization of a variety of paces and styles - a fairly impressive feat that I firmly enjoyed and felt boosted their music to distinctly above the average Black Metal band.
Over the course of the album this impression kept growing as the songs (of which the first was clearly the worst and least interesting) remained highly diverse and frankly reasonably interesting for their extended lengths, much thanks to their multitude of influences and crossover utilization of styles, incorporating styles from Death, Atmospheric and even to an extent Epic Metal with relative ease into some rather impressive riffs and guitar sections by guitarist Ancestor that really gave off some WATAIN-esque vibes - and here's also where I believe we can see the influences of BEHEMOTH come into place and turn EERIE into more than just another lifeless void of blast beats and wall-of-noise production quality.
A big contributing factor to this strong initial impression is the vocal performance of V.O.W.O.C. who makes a bold move to deviate from the standard Black Metal formula of solely screeching howls and growls, and instead incorporates a variety of vocals ranging from those classic Black Metal howls to more Death-Thrash-esque roars and even going so far as to venture into normally foreign territory for Black Metal bands with clean-like vocals. While Black Metal purists will probably frown and spit blood at the very notion, I fully endorse the concept and I think it is EERIE's strongest point and definitively something that makes them stand out as something genuinely special in the Black Metal scene.
These warm words being said however, EERIE's "Into Everlasting Death" is not a magnum opus or even an overly convincing debut album, as the aura of mediocrity sadly cannot be fully escaped even with the high and mighty feats named above. While the formula is not only solid but genuinely interesting and very promising, the execution feels lacking and the final product just not 'good' as opposed to 'above average'. The songs, while certainly diverse and fleshed-out, simply lack the punch and memorability that makes them stick. Also I could poke at the production quality, but honestly for a Black Metal band these guys are on the right path so I'll just say it can be improved and leave it at that.
So in the end, EERIE's first effort "Into Everlasting Death" isn't the kind of album I can recommend with ease despite its many strengths. It's distinctly above average, but not to the point of becoming genuinely captivating or interesting. However it is a decent start to a big promise hidden in the underlying formula that EERIE has created, and I have faith that these guys will find the way to utilize it to create potentially great things in the future.
6 / 10
Had Potential

"Into Everlasting Death" Track-listing:
1. Mining Out Of Black Earth
2. Into Everlasting Death
3. Among The Ashes
4. Of Descending Moon
Eerie Lineup:
V.O.W.O.C. - Vocals
Ancestor - Guitars
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