The Spanish melodic death metal band Eternal Storm made their advent in 2013 with an EP named From the Ashes, and followed that the next year with one of the wonderful splits released in the Elemental Nightmares series (which is how we first learned about the band). Now, five years later and with a new drummer in the line-up, Eternal Storm are poised to release their debut album, Come the Tide, which Transcending Obscurity Records will reveal in its fullness on August 23rd.
The talents of Eternal Storm were quite evident even in the nascency of those previous releases, but those talents have flourished in striking fashion on this new album, which demonstrates the kind of assured compositional complexity that finds a sublime balance between emotionally involving melody and physically compulsive heaviness. The song we’re presenting today, “The Scarlet Lake“, is a great example of those qualities, a multi-faceted and completely captivating piece in which the minutes fly by.
Photo by Sergio Albert Avilés
It’s easy to imagine “The Scarlet Lake” as the musical representation of an extravagant tapestry, both coarse and velveteen in its texture, revealing scenes both elegant and harrowing, in which the rich embroidery creates changing shades of light and dark, interwoven with strands of gold that catch the eye with their gleam.
It features heavy, gritty riffing and beautiful, swirling and soaring guitar harmonies; tumultuous percussive drives and light, lilting strumming; frenetic skittering chords and shining, fluid leads. The dynamism and richness of the song extends to the vocals, which shift from belly-deep doom/death roars to vicious, serrated-edge snarls (all of the band’s four members contribute vocals over the course of the album, and on this track they’re also joined by guest vocalist (and an old friend of ours) Fredrik Huldtgren (of Canopy and Kaos Vortex).
The overarching impression of the song is one of vibrancy manifested in different ways (including riffs that jolt and seethe), but dark, melancholy undercurrents surface in the melodies, revealing the band’s doom influences, and there are also moments of introspection and soulfulness (particularly in the song’s gorgeous guitar solo). The finale draws all these strands together, combining moods of feverish desperation, wistful remembrance, and (thanks to a rapidly rippling guitar motif) one last glimpse of ephemeral beauty.
Fredrik Huldtgren isn’t the only guest to lend his talents to those of the band’s four members (guitarist/keyboardist Daniel Maganto, drummer Mateo Novati, bassist/lead vocalist Kheryon, and guitarist/keyboardist Jaime Torres). In fact, the list of guests is extensive:
Javier Fernández (Nexusseis, The Heretic) – Keyboards, synthesizers & programming
Migueloud Ontivero (Wormed) – Additional vocals (The Strand)
Christopher Baque-Wildman (Dejadeath, Asgaroth) | Additional vocals (Immersion)
Manuel Mendoza (Distryto 13, La Banda Del Soplo) – Saxophone (Immersion)
Ben C. Read (In Dread Response, Bridge Burner, ex-Ulcerate) – Additional vocals (Detachment)
Fredrik Huldtgren (Canopy, Kaos Vortex) – Additional vocals (The Scarlet Lake)
Fiar (Foscor) – Additional vocals (Embracing Waves)
In addition, the French visual artist Leoncio Harmr (whose creations we’ve frequently featured in the art posts on our site’s FB page) added his talent in the creation of the new record’s cover art.
Transcending Obscurity recommends Come the Tide for fans of De Profundis, Opeth, Insomnium, Imperialist, Paradise Lost, Anathema, Officium Triste, Saturnus, and Katatonia. Two other previously released tracks from the album, “Detachment” and “Drifters”, are now available for listening on Bandcamp, and we’ve also included streams of them below so you can explore the music further. Pre-orders are available now:
PRE-ORDER:
https://eternalstorm.bandcamp.com/
ETERNAL STORM:
https://www.facebook.com/eternalstormofficial/
TRANSCENDING OBSCURITY:
http://tometal.com/
http://facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords