ETERNAL – Chapter 1 (CD)

Eternal produces really good high quality guitar dominated melodic metal, very similar to Nocturnal Rites on The 8th Sin. The band has an outstanding singer in Christer Gärds with a great, raspy, still very melodic voice, actually a bit similar to Johnny in Nocturnal Rites, which is just great in my book. In Scream Higher I also hear quite a lot of Graham Bonnet in Christer, which is yet another nice touch. The balance between keyboards and guitar is really good, with the great guitarplaying of brother Bosse Gärds never being overshadowed. Keyboardist Pontus Lekaregård also does his part with a nice touch, not only laying down carpets of sound, but actually adding some nice key-twiddling in the background, like in second track Human. The production should be credited Peter Tägtgren who proves he not only masters the heavier side of metal, but does a great job also when it comes to melodic metal. Come to think of it, the keyboard sound of Human actually made me think of Tägtgren’s Pain. The album offers a nice variety of songs, from faster stuff like Virus and Ray Of Light, to heavier stuff like Stay The Night and the Rainbow:esque The Thing with its oriental harmonies. All in all a really good solid heavy melodic rocker of an album, that should fit in well on the roster of labels such as Escape or Frontiers.
Janne Stark
Label: High Gear Music
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link: http://www.eternalsweden.com/