Eternity - Pestiferous Hymns - Rev. I-I-XXXIII

There are some bands out there in their respective genres that you just know eventually is going to release THAT killer album. The album that should do big things for them. Germany's Eternity is one of those black metal bands that has shown potential with their first two albums. Now, after five years, their latest, 'Pestiferous Hymns - Rev. I-I-XXXIII' is here and could this be the one that rises them to new heights?

Well it has all the elements to remind you of the greats. Just listen to the opening track 'Down To The Southern Abyss'. That just screams Dissection at me. That cold raw melodic opening to the furious fast riffs  and blistering beats that would be in perfect sync with any cold wind that is whisking its way through the forests. It will leave chills throughout and by morning, the forest will be frozen and lifeless.

The thing that really grabs me is the way they can maintain that cold atmosphere and instead of cloning a particular band, they mix the best of the best to come up with something of their own. A song like 'Temple Of Flesh' maintains that Dissection like raw and cold feel, but the slower tempo and subtle tremolo riffs that lurk around remind me of early Burzum. What comes next is a song like '...Like 1000 Suns' which swings around ridiculously at the start but marches its way out with such triumph. It is so catchy as well. A Darkthrone 'Panzerfaust' moment, only difference here is this song carries progression.

And to go further to show that this isn't all about blistering speed, take the hovering motion of 'Waiting In The Abyss' that breaks out into a punchy riffs and beats in the middle. Then comes the epic like finish with 'Black Clouds On A Psychic Horizon' which continues the hovering nod only the bass creeps along with the chilling tremolo riff tearing into the wind before A Krieg's final blood curdling shriek from the mountain tops.

A Krieg's vocals add this dirty and sick side to the album as well. Reminds me of Nocturno Culto a lot. I like this though because this isn't the usual icy harsh black metal tone you get for something so cold. This adds a trashy element and there are moments where you wonder if at any moment, will he start coughing up blood from the way he is forcing his words out.

I liked 'Funeral Mass' but it came across quite one dimensional and reminded me too much of Darkthrone, only it was better than most trying to emulate that sound. It was a little too noisy and too trashy and almost every song was about that fierce speed. 'Pestiferous...' shows how Eternity has found that balance between knowing when to be furious and when to be more controlled. Now that they have consumed that cold atmosphere and found rhythm and variation in their riffs and tempos, Eternity's potential has finally paid off.

Ikil