Eternal Darkness takes its final bow.
Created in 1990 (under the name Necropsy), the band lived until 1995, offering three demos and one EP in five years before ceasing activity. In 2019, Janne Heikkinen (vocals) and Make Pesonen (drums, ex-The Black, ex-Karjalan Sissit), two of the founding members, got the ball rolling again, accompanied by Jeff Hausel (bass), John Carlsson (guitar, Eternal Autumn) and Kristian Henriksson (guitar, ex-Svartsyn), with whom they released their only album, Eternal Darkness, on Pulverised Records, before splitting up again.
Sami Salonen is credited for writing the lyrics.
An ominous noise marks the start of The Beyond, followed by the first incredibly heavy, percussive riffs from which emerge the cavernous howls that fit this stifling atmosphere perfectly. The band’s roots are easily identifiable to our great delight, welcoming heady leads that reinforce the omnipresent melancholy before setting off again at a similar pace on Pungent Awakening, which takes the opportunity to offer us a catchy rhythm section. The sound never really cuts out, but offers us a few more pared-down passages before letting harmonics darken the landscape before percussion leads us into Funeral, a short instrumental track where the guitars lull us and deepen the divide with the track’s basis. Grief takes over, offering waves of more aggressive double kick punctuating the beginning of the track, but the jerky riffs gradually turn into generalized apathy to give birth to the solo before picking up slightly to join Into Crematory, which resumes its overwhelming march. A few orchestrations embellish the impressive rhythm and its roar, then the band relies once again on anguished harmonics with When Life Ends, but after a long march in the company of the heavy rhythm, we notice a few more vindictive roots trying to express themselves. Death Above All slows down the sound once again, becoming almost lethargic at times like an agonizing undead, but allowing itself some more melodic moments, which we find on Til Death, feeding the raw, repetitive sounds that carry us towards the final moments where only the cymbal resounds.
Eternal Darkness is the last work from Eternal Darkness. Doom/Death has been with them for three and a half decades, and their art resonates with their fans.
85/100
