In 2018, Aussie Gothic doom act The Eternal presented me with one of my most challenging trials as a music reviewer. Waiting for the Endless Dawn was a sprawling, meandering monster of an album running well over an hour, but the songs and morose atmosphere had a lot going for them. I agonized over whether the sheer length undercut the quality writing and in the end, I awarded it a 3.0. While I still stand by the criticisms I leveled, the album continued to infect my brain over the years and I realize I underrated it. Jump forward 5 years and The Eternal are back with another hour-plus dose of doom and gloom, posing all the same questions I battled with in 2018. Is seventh album Skinwalker well crafted enough to make an hour of mopey gloom palatable and digestible in one sitting or have they once again given the listener too much of a depressing thing? Getting Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis to provide guest death roars certainly works in their favor, but hard questions remain to test Steel‘s metal.
If you heard Waiting for the Endless Dawn, 10-plus minute opener “Abandoned by Hope” will feel very familiar. It’s a massive Goth doom piece littered with influences ranging from Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Tiamat, with heavy riffs and weepy flourishes paving the way for Mark Kelson’s soft, plaintive vocals. He’s the rare vocalist capable of sounding vulnerable and heartbroken but also ominous and creepy like Tiamat’s Johan Edlund. Tomi Joutsen’s deep death roars are sprinkled in as accents and work well offsetting Kelson’s glum crooning. The vocal hooks are ever-present and the song is unnaturally addictive, showcasing smart peaks and valleys and glossy, sticky guitar work. Is it too long? Absolutely. 7-8 minutes would have sufficed, but The Eternal go big and won’t go home. In sharp contrast, “Deathlike Silence” is a concise goth rocking gem with a sweet, earwormy chorus. It sounds like prime Lacrimas Profundere meets One Second era Paradise Lost and it gets in your head fast and sets up a successful bait shop. “Under the Black” works equally well, with touches of Viva Emptiness era Katatonia blending with Ghost and H.I.M. slickness, and the use of post-metal aesthetics adds weight and depth. “When the Fire Dies” may be one of my favorite Goth doom songs of the past few years, with the post elements again paying big dividends by extending the power of the frail mope rock.
Then come the patented doom marathon The Eternal feel compelled to deliver. “The Iconoclast” is 10 minutes and feels 12, but somehow it still works and forces you to make a grudging peace with its bloated excess. These guys possess a shrewd sense of the dramatic and understand the theatrical aspects of Goth doom. The way the song slowly builds suspense before the cathartic release is masterful. Mark Kelson is the downtrodden Ring Master of the ceremonies, guiding you from attraction to attraction with smart vocal placement and once again, Tomi’s death eruptions are the icing on the grave cake. There are segments here that remind of Ava Inferi’s stellar Onyx opus and there’s a fuck-ton of forlorn grief energy to be had despite the overstuffed package. Could it be 2-3 minutes shorter? Could Doc Grier be nicer? Both are stupid questions. Things close with another study in excess, 9-plus minute “Shattered Remains,” and yet again The Eternal use sage songcraft to rescue the freighter from the rocky shoals. The music is just heavy enough to satisfy and Kelson does his sadboi thing with grace and aplomb as Tomi leaps in and out dropping the death hammer. The chorus is instantly memorable and evocative, sure to harsh your mellow, and send you to the weepery. With no songs feeling uninspired, The Eternal again deliver an hour-plus of music you can wade through and still want more of despite the extra padding. No small feat that.
This is Mark Kelson’s show and the man delivers a vocal tour de force of Gothy unhappiness. His voice is perfectly-suited to the style and his ability to move from ominous baritone to higher register crooning conveys the rise and fall of emotion well. Richie Poate and Kelson are a formidable guitar tandem, adept at weaving heavy doom riffs with uber-sad trilling and weepy noodling. The icy post-metal aspects are well executed and highly effective in timing and placement. Tomi Joutsen is used sparingly but effectively to punch the heaviness upward. He’s not on every song so things never feel formulaic or forced. This a band that knows this genre inside out and knows how to pluck the heartstrings long and hard.
Skinwalker is 65 minutes of high-class depression bottled by professionals and hawked by grungy snake oil salesmen. The Eternal refuse to downsize and will not be rushed. If you have the patience though, they have the fresh Goth goods. If they ever learn to resist their fatter angels, they’ll drop a magnum opus that will shake the heavens. Until that day, Skinwalker will do just fine.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix
Websites: the-eternal.com | facebook.com/theeternal | instagram.com/theeternalofficial
Releases Worldwide: June 28th, 2024
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