SANGRE ETERNA was formed in 2005, released two demos in 2006 and a full length album in 2008. This release through Maple Metal Records is their latest album called "Asphyxia", a studio album featuring several guest musicians like Aleksi Sihvonen (NORTHER), Tapio Wilska (ex-FINNTROLL), Juha Kylmänen (FOR MY PAIN), Jarmo Kylmänen (ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW) and Jovana Karajanov (TALES OF DARK).

"Asphyxia", a suffocating title for an album that's a powerful outlet for asphyxia energy inside a classic dark sound mixed with a bit of light through melodic sounds and extra voices. Their tight playing on many levels made me think about well-oiled heavy machinery in a rolling but certainly not boring rhythm. The songs came in like fast running darkness with room for light inside the synthesizer and melodic parts.

Every song seems to deal with a certain asphyxia aspect like frustrating anger, heavy regrets, pointing blame, broken dreams, irritation and hate. Not in a suffocating way, but more like in the get off my chest and deal with it way. However, the songs "Seventh Angel" and "The Echoes Of My Loss" were my personal favorites, due to the extra dimensions that were created  by adding (guest) voices.

What did get to me at first when listening to the album "Asphyxia" was the powerful energy behind the music. A certain chemistry between the members that made them sound tight as one while giving almost every music line an own personality at the same time. The singer added to that with his perfectly timed cry outs and dark growls that weren't hard to follow, but so does the almost continuous tight fat drum sound too. SANGRE ETERNA did certainly change some of their ways on this album.

"Asphyxia" is not per definition lesser or better than early SANGRE ETERNA performances, but certainly different.