Eternal God

The "Eternal God" EP was recorded three months after the "Prophecy of Gore" demo. That interim period saw the release of the second Paradise Lost album ("Gothic"). I don't know whether the guys in Horrified had heard that album when they recorded this. It sounds like they may have done so. This Greek band were already making moody old school death/doom (with keyboards), but the parallels to the UK death/doom scene are obvious. There is something 'mournful' about these two songs.

After a brief ambient keyboard intro, the title track begins with some chunky mid-paced riffing and gravelly vocals (similar to what Gorefest did on their demos). The simple melodies appear next, interspersed with the chugging. A second melody line arrives at the two-minute mark, resembling what Amorphis would do on “The Karelian Isthmus” one year later. Later on, keyboard ambience emerges and bridges to the (melodic) solo. It is a great song, worthy of its seven-minute length. The second song, "Altars of the Abyss", originally appeared on the aforementioned demo (where it was the highlight). This re-recorded version is cleaner and better played, if not quite as menacing. The cleaner production allows the melodic aspects of the song to shine. Again, it is a great song.

The production lacks the feral sound of the demo. It isn’t as strong as equivalent productions from Scandinavia or the UK, with the guitar lacking some bottom-end. The vocals sometimes also sound strained, as though the vocalist is out of breath. These minor flaws put "Eternal God" a rung or two below the ‘essential’ old school death metal rarities. The song-writing cannot be discounted though. Fans of Macabre End, early Amorphis, early Paradise Lost and (demo-era) Gorefest will enjoy this, because all these bands knew how to write death metal songs without resorting to riff-salad. Newcomers to Horrified might be more interested in checking the band’s subsequent EP first ("The Ancient Whisper of Wisdom"), which expanded the use of keyboards and began using female vocals, showing a greater Paradise Lost influence. You cannot go far wrong with either EP.

Here we have Horrified's first vinyl in the form of a 12" MLP on Black Power Records. Black Power has put out some quality releases from Necromantia, Varathron and Septicemia and this MLP is no different. Two tracks of dark, atmospheric death metal released with a very cool cover and layout. If you've read my other Horrified reviews then you already know what this band is about. While they do have the trademark Greek elements to their music, Horrified love to experiment with different styles and techniques, resulting in an original blend of beauty and darkness that was ahead of its time.

The songs on this release were recorded sometime between the demo tape and "The Ancient Whisper..." EP, and it definitely shows. It's a vast improvement over the demo (especially in production), but still not at the creative musical peak of the 7". The sound on this vinyl is light years ahead of "Prophecy of Gore" in quality. All of the instruments have balanced out in the mix and everything is crisp and clear. The only problem I have with the production is the double bass. It's a bit too high in the mix and is frequently overused, most notably on the song "Eternal God". The vocals are better than those on the demo, but aren't very original and sound more like a higher-pitched growl. The female vocals that would later appear on the 7" are missing here, but it's probably for the better. I really don't think they would fit in with the structure of these songs.

After a petrifying intro piece titled "Beyond the Chaos", the title track opens. Right away the atmosphere is adorned by strings of haunting keyboards and impressive guitar leads. The dark melody briefly exits during some of the faster, thrash-beat sections of the song. This is also one of the only parts in the composition where the drummer does something other than a constant, repetitive double bass beat. The drumming on this song is so boring! Luckily, the brilliant guitar arrangements more than make up for this. There's a series of powerful leads towards the end of the song that are reminiscent of the guitarwork from Mexico's Argentum. In the end, this is a very good song but pales in comparison to what is next...

"Altars of Abyss" is a slower song but is executed in an extremely haunting, orchestral fashion. The keyboards are absolutely stunning on this one; and as much as I hate that instrument 95% of the time in other bands, I just couldn't wait to hear more of them in this track. The unending guitarwork is profusely mournful but with a hint of beauty. You could easily imagine something of this caliber being played at the world's funeral. To call this stuff monumental would only be scraping the surface. Simply said, this is one of the best written atmospheric death metal songs I've ever heard.

A highly recommended piece of Greek metal history.