Eternal Storm/Come The Tide/Transcending Obscurity Records/2019 CD Review

  Eternal  Storm  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this recording  plays  a  very  melodic,  atmospheric  and  progressive  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Come  The  Tide"  which  was  released  by  Transcending  Obscurity  Records.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  touches  of  doom  metal  can  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well   as  the  music  also  getting  very  progressive  at  times.

  Clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  saxophones  onto  the  album  and  as  the  recording  progresses  a  brief  use  of  whispered  vocals  can  also  be  heard  and  the  closing  track  shows  an  influence  of  post rock.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  inner  struggles,  personal  growth.philosophy  and  society  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Eternal  Storm  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive,  atmospheric  and  melodic  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Through  the  Wall  of  Light  Pt.  1  (The  Strand)"  "The  Mountain"  and  "Embracing  Waves".  8  out  of  10.

https://youtu.be/dwZhkhmafxs      

Eternal Storm Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Daniel: Greetings, first of all, thank you for spending some of your time and attention on the band. About three months ago we released our debut EP 'From the Ashes' and we are busy promoting it, you know, writing to webzines in order to get reviews, answering to interviews, playing shows, looking for a label...at the same time we're working hard writing and rehearsing the new stuff which will be featured in our debut full-length. While we keep on writing new songs we will record a couple of songs for a split CD with some cool bands from our country and a cover song for a tribute CD of a well-known band from Brooklyn we really admire, even though they didn't belong to the same genre we play, so to speak. As you can see, we like to keep ourselves fairly busy ;)

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the demo and how it differs from the sound you originally went for?

Daniel: The band used to play some kind of melodic/symphonic black metal until Jaime and me joined the band. Then, we started to move towards some more death metal oriented sound and after some time tracing the sketches of the canvas that would become our style we started to breed the melodic extreme metal the band performs nowadays. I guess you could say that our roots come from the early/mid nineties Swedish death and black metal scenes, although there are as well influences hailing from Norwegian black metal bands, Finnish death or doom metal bands, more classic metal bands or even some bands from our country who had a huge influence in our sound.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Jaime: We deal mostly with daily issues, feelings and experiences one goes through in our everyday life. Some of them are more personal while other are more sociological.  The thing is we don't write about them in a way it can only have a particularly focused meaning, but rather we go for a more abstract way of writing so everyone can figure out the meaning on their own.

Daniel: Personal growth is a very important subject of the band's ethos but of course, some of them are more personal than others, and ocassionaly some of them can get a bit cryptic. Anyway, we try to introduce a subject or a theme in a rather abstract way so the readers can give the lyrics their own meaning and thus making the whole process a bit more enriching and interactive.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Jaime: Well, it’s kind of a cliché name for a metal band, but anyway we like it, haha. It does sound epic, and I think it fits the type of music we play. As for the meaning, I think everyone of us has a different interpretation of it, for me it is a reminder that life is always going on, and you have to face the hardships and enjoy the good things.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Jaime: It would be the show we played with Crownless and Somne 2.0, at Caracol, one of the best venues here in our city. There we played for the first time in front of a big and enthusiastic crowd and we really had a blast! I think with every passing gig we have a better stage performance, we try to have a lot of fun up there on stage and be energetic, which is something I believe the audience notices when watching a band playing. We use to go crazy during the final bits of “Boundaries of Serenity”, haha.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Jaime: Unfortunately we don’t have any touring plans yet, but it is something we are really looking forward to. All we have now is spared shows from time to time. We are eager to play outside our city, as we still haven’t played in other cities.

Kheryon: Yeah, we are always looking forward for new shows. Now we are trying to play outside Madrid, so… we will see.

Daniel: Touring is a very expensive thing but we really hope we will do one sooner than later. We have a couple of shows in Madrid and in other cities (Barcelona) scheduled for this Fall. If someone wants to see us in their city write an E-Mail to eternalstormofficial@gmail.com and we'll do our best to be there :)

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or received any label interest?

Daniel: We've talked with some labels and we were about to signed with a pretty big and famous local label but unfortunately the guy changed his mind in the very last moment so here we are looking again for a label. It's a bit stressing to look for a label after having uploaded the whole album, because I feel as if I was fighting against time, as it's been already three months since 'From the Ashes' was out on Bandcamp and we still haven't reached an agreement with any label and the album could get a bit "old" for them.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic black and death metal?

Jaime: Considering the EP hasn’t been out for a long time, and given we are an underground band, I think it has been quite positive. We’ve received messages from people from all around the globe telling us how much they have loved it, and we feel grateful for that. It’s encouraging!

Kheryon: In a personal way, I’m so satisfied with the feedback. There are people from our country but also from the USA, Poland, Sweden, Australia, Korea writing to us… it’s amazing how Internet can help to spread your art worldwide.

Daniel: Even though we still have to find a label to release it in a proper way and we have to make tons of gigs to promote the album it's already having some great reviews from all over the world: We've been reviewed or we have replied to interviews from places such as the US, England, Ireland, Germany...some of the most important Spanish metal webzines as well, so we feel both grateful and surprised because of the good feedback we're getting...we really want to show you our new stuff!

9. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

Jaime: I just do stupid shit with my friends, I’m just waiting for the day I become a rockstar and blow the whole world away, while all the pretty horny girls blow my….. my manowar-like fire extinguisher.

Kheryon: I don’t have any other projects, Dani is the crazy one in this way (and in so many others).

Daniel: I used to be in more bands but nowadays my main projects are Eternal Storm and blackened grindcore band called Under Vultures (http://www.facebook.com/undervultures), I've got some small projects as well but nowadays I'm busy with these two bands and some booking agencies and record labels I collaborate with. The busier, the happier.

Luis: I'm a busy man, I have a Progressive Metal band called Distance which has been around for almost ten years and we finally recorded our debut album a couple of months ago. I also have a D-Beat/Crust band called Totëmwolf and I play in a cover band of hard rock tunes as well.

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Jaime: I think we are heading to a more laid-back, atmospheric style. We will certainly keep the blast beats and the aggression, but at the same time we are paying a higher level of attention to the melodies and the songwriting itself, making it more dynamic and, let's say, "ethereal".

Kheryon: I'm completely sure we will end our career playing techno-house. Nah, now being serious, I really don't know. Three years ago I was saying "Eternal Storm won't have synths or acoustic parts" and new songs are more progressive, so I don't know. But I'm sure the path we'll walk will be the path we will want to walk, not following commercial mainstream interests.

Daniel: As Jaime said, we think we're getting into a more atmospheric field. We're introducing more clean guitar parts and we're playing with effects. Keyboards and synthesizers have a more important role in our new songs as well. We're also using new ranges of vocals and now that Lucho is part of the band he's contributing with his tasteful drumming as well, as most of the drums from the EP were already written before he joined, although he contributed with several great arrangements to those songs.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Jaime: Just to name a few, Opeth, Amorphis, Insomnium, In Mourning, In Vain, Alcest... We actually listen to a huge variety of music, not only within the metal genre. Personally I'm crazy about the newest The Fall of Every Season album. Fucking great proggy doom/death with a post-rock vibe!

Kheryon: There are so many bands that influence our music so I couldn't say any… In a personal way I'm so influenced by musicians as Jeff Walker or Seth from Septicflesh. Nowadays I'm listening a lot to the new LPs of In Vain and Fractal Gates, both are amazing albums.

Daniel: We are definitely open-minded individuals. I'd say some of our biggest influences as a band are Opeth, Amorphis, Katatonia, Insomnium, Edge of Sanity, Death, Sentenced, Dissection and the likes. And in a personal side, here is some of the stuff I've been listening to the most during the last couple of days: The 3rd And The Mortal, Priapus, Manes, The Last 3 Lines, Soul Aside, Absvrdist, Jardín De La Croix, Ulcerate, Nahemah, Placebo, Oceansize, Wovenhand...tons of different stuff as you can see!

Luis: yeah I'm a open-minded musician: I listen to all kind of music, from pop to soul, rock, metal rap etc etc One of my biggest influences music-wise is Death and nowadays I'm mostly listening to Karnivool, Misery Signals, Anathema, Rihanna, Textures...

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Jaime: We enjoy reading, watching films, doing sports and having a good time with our beloved ones. We are common people, completely devoid of any unique characteristic that separates us from the billions of souls that have roamed this earth before us. Meaningless existence we have, yet classy.

Kheryon: I love sports and I'm trying to finish my career in Psychology.

Daniel: Some of the stuff I enjoy doing is reading, watching films, going to shows and having some fun with my fellow ones.

Luis: My dogs and my girlfriend, I usually spend my time watching films, reading comic books, playing basketball or football, meeting my friends...

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Daniel: Thanks for the interview and kind words! If some of you want to know more of our stuff visit the following url's:

http://www.facebook.com/eternalstormofficial
http://eternalstorm.bandcamp.com

For any questions or suggestions write an E-Mail to eternalstormofficial@gmail.com

Thanks again, support art!
Daniel.

Eternal Storm/From The Ashes/2013 EP Review

  Eternal  Storm  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  from  of  melodic  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "From  The  Ashes".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars,  as  for  the  pianos  when  they  are  utilized  briefly  they  bring  a  dark,  depressing  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  melodic  black  metal  with  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  the  progressive  elements  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  to  deep  death  metal  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  and  philosophical  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  dark,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Eternal  Storm  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  melodic  black  metal  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "From  The  Ashes"  "A  Picture  In  The  Dark"  and  "Grey  Skies".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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