Label: Black Sun Records, 1997
1. Angels Die 04:48
2. Beautiful Evil Soul 04:06
3. In Bitterness And Sorrow 03:29
4. The Black Heart 08:33
5. World Within 05:28
6. The Serpent Garden 04:45
7. Kill (The Priest) 01:40
8. Misery Speaks 04:41
9. Hunger 04:45
10. Death Of God 10:09
While this is neither a new release, nor a Black Metal one, it's probably one of the best things to ever come from Sweden. First of all, this is not Melodic Death Metal, even if it might be branded as. Sure, it's melodic, and, sure, it's Gothenburg, but this is so much darker and more evil, than anything you'd ever see called MDM. Hell, if MDM were like this, I'd be the first admitted fan of the style. Alas, it's not the case. What you hear here is pure damn blasphemy, hatred and aggression put to music!
The album opens with "Angels Die", which quickly shows you what to expect from "Eternal Death". Melodic intro leads out into a full-speed audial assault, which is what it is all about. Hatred flows through this music. In every note, in every growl of the vocalist you hear it pulsate, ready to explode. This is the first standout track from this album, of which there are ten. "Beautiful Evil Soul" basically continues the line, started on the opener. Still as fast, still as hateful, still as melodic, still like a sledgehammer landing into your sorry brains. Possess me, beautiful evil soul! Devotion, dedication, it echoes through your veins. The lyrics are very remarkable as well and you're likely to scream it along from the second time onwards (and hell, there will be a second time). Needless to say, it's definitely one of the highlights here (of which there are ten).
"Nothing left for me, but Eternal Death"! "In Bitterness and Sorrow" is one hell of a slaughterfest. You guessed it right, it's one of the best songs here, but I am not going to describe it, just try for yourself. "The Black Heart" is a slow one, almost a ballad. Dedicated to one and only Per Yngve "Dead" Ohlin from the legendary Mayhem and Morbid, it frequently quotes his statements and follows his artistic path, until the very gory happy end. While a somewhat letdown on the original listen, it very much grows on you, thanks to inventive arrangements and drum lines. "World Within" might make you think of the good era of At The Gates and rightfully so. Catchy melodies and skillful riffing, paired with Johan's desperate screams, produce an excellent result! "The Serpent Garden", which follows next, is very melodic, but also dark, pretty much in line with the previous song. But nothing would prepare you to the machine gun extravaganza, that is "Kill (the Priest)", 100 seconds of madness and blastbeats! The Panzer-era Marduk is the best comparison I have to this, but, trust me, Crown Of Thorns manages to pull the same tricks much more convincingly, making this a definite favourite of mine from "Eternal Death" (of which there are ten).
I am just going to skip "Misery Speaks" as there is really nothing wrong with it, a perfect song for a perfect album. "Hunger" is another very memorable one. Starting slowly, it explodes with a f**king hurricane, when the chorus starts. Apart from the obvious musical quality, it's also very inspiring and, unless you're just planning to kill yourself without accomplishing your goals, you're bound to love the message. Then again, if you're planning to kill yourself, you should probably just do so, instead of listening to this, you weak pathetic scum. Another amazing track!
And the finisher is "Death Of God", which spans into 10 raping minutes of deathbliss. Starting with a quote from "Warlock", it features a wide variety of tempos, which the band utilizes to accomplish what Nietzsche once started - the total and utmost destruction of the god's feeble kingdom. "Cursed be thy name, your kingdom of slaves, blessed be those who rise up against God"! Isn't that beautiful? Definitely makes it into my top songs from this one (of which there are f**king ten).
If I am to describe the instruments separately, I would say, that the musicianship shown here is very remarkable. The guitars are very well done, with both solos and rhythm parts merging perfectly. The bass is audible and roaring, which is a good thing, as it's often neglected. The drumming is diverse and skilled and it's one of the things, that would make you bang your head to almost every beat, once you're familiar enough with the songs. And, of course, the vocals! This voice spews forth blasphemy and hatred in such a desperate fashion, that most other vocalists would never dream of. What I mean is, sometimes when you listen to a band it just sounds like if the vocalist doesn't really believe in what he's singing about. Doesn't that annoy you? It sure does annoy me. Well, it's certainly not the case here, as Johan's screams are true as f**k.
Overall, it's about 52 minutes of Total Death Worship. Sure, it's no "religious" or "orthodox", like the new school bands claim to be, but the message is deep and honest and it's sure as hell much more wicked, than about 95% of the so-called Satanic underground, so this is NOT to be missed.
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