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Eternal Of Sweden: Heaven's Gate
Eternal Of Sweden Heaven's Gate CD Album Review

Eternal Of Sweden: Heaven's Gate

Heavy/Power Metal
3.5/5.0

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Black Lodge Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 06.01.2016

Alright. Eternal Of Sweden wants you to know one thing. They're from Sweden. Not Finland. Not Norway. Not Fiji. Not Nigeria. Sweden. They're from Sweden. See. It's in their name. There will be a quiz later. Now that I beat that point to death with the nail spiked club of sarcasm, it's onto their second album, Heaven's Gate.

Eternal Of Sweden Heaven's Gate Band Photo

Eternal Of Sweden

The Eternal of Sweden sound can be basically described as hard rock invigorated with traditional heavy metal. After this you can throw in a touch of power metal and some keyboards for symphonic notes. Their sound could also be described assertive. The guitar riffs are definitely forward throughout this album, heavy and sharp. These are accentuated by an abundance of rising sharp solos. Additionally, the vocals also gives the sound significant edge as well. Not necessarily all that melodic, though he can be, Christer Gärds has a strong, sometimes raw, sometimes screamo, presentation. Mostly unwavering, I don't think he knows how to dial things back. Some attempt is made with the pseudo-ballad Angel, and a female singer to be named later, but Gards still comes across as forceful. Underneath all this, the bottom end is deep and pulsating.

The overall effect is to give Eternal of Sweden (did I tell you they're from Sweden) a large sound, a wall of metal as it were. In some sense, I found the album both relentless and redundant, with the songs having very few characteristics to set them apart. Sure, Eternal, of Sweden, that is, can start songs differently. A flourish of keyboards for Freedom Now. A nice vocal harmony introduction for Evil Dance. The piano to start Angel. Orchestration for Ruins. But after these things, the songs are mostly the aforementioned wall of riffage and Gards practically screaming at you the entire time. If you like these sort of things, you'll love this album. I had to digest it in pieces as it was all too similar all the time. In the end, I won't be returning to it anytime soon.

Okay. Wait. Pop quiz. What country is Eternal Of Sweden from?

Eternal Of Sweden - Ruins


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In Short

The Eternal of Sweden sound can be basically described as hard rock invigorated with traditional heavy metal, yet very assertive thanks to the wall of sharp riffage and vocal presentation.

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