Eternal - “Cryptic Lust” cassette

Carbonized Records release

This 2024 album from Arizona's ETERNAL is so old school sounding that if you didn't know it, you'd think this came out in 1991!! Lots of Swedeath and Morrisound influence here. Killer riffs, killer drumming, killer vokills, and killer songwriting. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Features drummer Xander Bridge of Gurgling Gore alumni Blood Loss and Nuclear Remains

Damn near sold out from the label (only 3 left over there last I checked). You better act quick. Don't wanna miss out on this death metal supremacy!!

Blue Cassette Shell housed inside a Clear Cassette Case with 6 Panel J-Card

This album FUCKS, and it fucks HARD. It’s easily superior to the previous releases of this band so far. Eternal are shaping up to be the best metal band in Arizona, and definitely one of the better bands in the current so called old school death metal revival.

Eternal’s Death and Obituary influence are definitely still here, but with more noticeable influences from Morbid Angel as well. In fact, this album feels like every death metal album from 1987 to 1991 thrown into a blender and made into a delicious smoothie. The drumming and vocals are probably the biggest difference from this record and last years “Faceless Evil” ep. More blast beats, more double bass, more speed and overall dynamics in the song writing. Emilio’s voice sounds truly sinister and straight from the underworld in this record. It’s like the difference between Chris Barnes on Cannibal Corpses first demo and his voice on Eaten Back to Life (except Emilio is ten times better than Chris Barnes).

There’s not really a single “skip” on this album. It’s great front to back, zero filler, all balls to the wall evil death metal. Foreboding harmonies, atmospheric passages, fast pummeling blast riffs and uhh sexual moaning? A bit random, but that perfectly encapsulated how I felt listening to this beast for the first time. This record is pure ecstasy for any true death metal fan, and it’s a fucking crime that this band goes relatively unnoticed while dogshit like Peeling Flesh and Infectious Jelqing/Arseny are taking the spotlight due to meme culture. With this album, Eternal are the underdogs among the wealth of watered down bands coming out now in this so called scene. None the less, I hope they never stop soon.

Cryptic Lust is Eternal coming into their actualization as not just a band but as a unit. This record is everything working together as one, to create truly beautiful art. Songwriting is something many metal bands fail at and instead opt for cheap unearned breakdowns and chug riffs. Eternal throws the current obsession with breakdowns out the window and build memorable diabolical riffs that come together to paint pictures of dark landscapes and horrifying images of pain. Many bands could learn from this album! Dynamics are the key to great song writing, and Eternal never lets the listener get bored here. Cauldron of Entrails starts with a slow nasty bass intro before building up to blistering speed, and calming down again to an evil candlemass-esque doom riff. The song (as well as the rest of the tracks on this record) repeats its motifs and themes but without being boring and stiff like most bands would. Taking a theme, or motif, and breaking it down and reconstructing it to be continually interesting is not that easy! But that’s how you get great songwriting. Nothing here feels random (even the sexual moaning on the title track is just relating back to the theme of that song) everything was put together with thought and care and the listener can definitely hear it.

What more can I say? This album is awesome, this band is awesome, and it’s a shame Eternal haven’t gotten the recognition they deserve (yet, hopefully). Some might hear this album and say “well it’s not super original” but consider this for a moment: most of the popular extreme metal coming out right now is aping old brutal death metal and hardcore music. The broader current metal scene is being flooded with horrible over produced generic alternative rock masquerading as metal, as well as shitty deathcore bands that can’t write riffs and think having a good vocalist is enough. Many of the popular extreme metal bands coming out right now are just far less interesting than Eternal. Many of them are the same bands that write “okay” to mediocre songs and only care about breakdowns. Songwriting will always trump production, and even originality sometimes if I’m being totally honest. I could shit on a microphone and put 808 bass drops on it but that wouldn’t make it better than Cryptic Lust just because it’s more original. Eternal bakes a delicious pie, warm and tasty in every aspect. They’re not being pretentious and overly complex, but they’re not being lazy about it either. They’re creating good fucking art that can last on its own merits without the need for meme culture or social media algorithm trends to prop it up. Cryptic Lust is a record that stands firmly on its own two legs against the tide, against the trends that many much shittier bands would attempt to exploit. Anyways, great solos, great riffs, great drumming, great vocals, great production, LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM.

- Metal Archives review