Follow: Bandcamp // Facebook // Merch
Label: Ván Records INT // Bandcamp
Genre: Heavy Metal / Gothic Metal
Release Date: 14-07-2023
Finding good Heavy Metal amongst the modern output is hard. In the most classic genres of Metal it is harder to hide behind novelty, thus tight songwriting and performances become more important. The Night Eternal seem to know this as they write very melodic songs with a slight Gothic bend. Nothing new really, but they do it competently. The songs on Fatale go for big vocal hooks and soaring melodic leads, recalling what Unto Others have been doing these last few years (the latter part of “We Praise Death” had me checking if Gabe Franco had a guest spot on it). However, far from being the German Unto Others, The Night Eternal often come across as sounding like a version of the long defunct Swedish band In Solitude that leans often into Iron Maiden riffs. There is a certain Punk leaning feeling to The Night Eternal‘s Gothic influence that I am surprised to hear crop up here, but it is clearly not to their detriment. In this fashion, Ricardo Baum‘s vocals lead the way, lending the guitar leads a potent energy.
Energy and hooks apart, what separates The Night Eternal from its potential influences is tight editing and a careful consideration to how the songs move in all of their aspects. It is here I find that the Germans stumble and have room for improvement. While songs like “Run With the Wolves” boasts a powerful refrain, there really isn’t much more to the song than that and several repeats of the chorus lessens its impact. In the worst instances, the sound of the band coalesces into a uniform mass, where each song sounds too alike the next. But in songs like the galloping “Ionian Sea” and the Tribulation-infected riffs of “Prometheus Unbound” and the urgent album bookends, the band show some real potential. The Heavy Metal scene is tired in 2023 and apart from Smoulder‘s latest platter, you could do a lot worse than giving Fatale a spin. With a harder push and more attention paid to editing their ideas so only the most deadly material remains, I’m sure The Night Eternal are going to put out material that will keep me coming back for years.
Rating: 6/10
