Originally forming in Melbourne, Australia, THE ETERNAL emerged onto the music scene in early 2003 before evolving into a truly international collaboration, with half of the members being based in Melbourne, and the other half in Helsinki, Finland. Over their two-decade journey, the band have garnered international acclaim through the release of six studio albums. Their extensive touring has taken them across national and international landscapes, sharing stages with renowned acts such as AMORPHIS, ANATHEMA, HIM, KATATONIA, SWALLOW THE SUN, and OPETH among others.

The opening song, “Abandoned by Hope,” is a ten-minute opus. The sound is weighted, dark, and heavy, with smooth clean vocals at first, that turn on a dime and bite back hard. The emotional impact of the music should be underscored as well, it is saturated with feelings. “Deathlike Silence” rolls with a more straightforward sound, mostly charming, beguiling harmonized vocals over a deep bed of aggressive weight. “Temptation’s Door” is a short one-minute segue to another massive song called “The Iconoclast,” which features a really nice mix of melody, somber tones, and aggressiveness. The balance hangs by a thread, swaying one way and then back the other, and the emotional impact can be felt down to your toes.

“When the Fire Dies” hits me hard from the first notes, and might be the best song on the album. The clean vocal harmonies make me ache in pain, as he states, “I lost myself, when I was waiting for the memories we once lived.” I think that the song is about the empty feeling one has when the passion is gone. “Fall Upon the Earth” has a desperately somber sound, and the band can hit you with these feelings whenever they please. The lead guitar work is fantastic as well, and the song hits like a train smashing the last of your feelings into broken bits. The title track has a crushing weight that scatters these broken bits into dust. The dark power of this song is matched only by the feelings of hopelessness that you take away.

“Shattered Remains” closes the album, and it’s another emotionally heavy song. The image I get when listening to it is someone doomed to carry an impossibly heavy ball and chain for the rest of their life. You can’t see it, but you can tell by the weary look at their face that it deeply affects them. There are definitely elements of the aforementioned bands in their sound, but what they have crafted here is deeply personal and all their own.  The songs carry a heavy emotional impact and burden to the listener, but also make you yearn for more punishment.