This is the debut album from Australian death metal crew Eternal Rest, though judging by the proficiency of their songwriting and the impressive way they can musically slap you about the face to get your attention, you’d think these guys were old hands rather than a fresh faced bunch of whippersnappers. They’d released one EP previous to this in 2009, so they have had plenty of time to perfect this full length before it was unleashed upon the world by Deepsend Records.
‘First Gate (Isten Baba)’ opens the album with a very gentle sounding acoustic passage, with swept strings and eastern styled melodies. Just as you’re beginning to relax, the inevitable crushing Nile-like guitar chords slam home, before all hell breaks loose with punishing riff after riff of the segueing ‘Preaching the Decimation of Spheres’, which bounds out twisted and frenzied like an unholy spirit unravelling from your speakers, pissed that it has been awoken from his ancient slumber to find your sorry arse looking at it, dumbstruck. Yes, it’d be churlish of me not to say that Eternal Rest obviously own a few Nile albums, and listen to them very often. But I’d also say they likely listen to quite a bit of Melechesh’s works too, but perhaps not as often as their Nile albums. To be fair, there are worse death metal bands to want to live up to, and it’s not as if the whole ‘eastern’ thing has been done to death, at least not in my eyes.
To be fair to the guys, they don’t rely wholly on the melodies of the Middle East throughout, but it’s clearly intrinsic to their flavour. I’d say their riffage is generally less technical, slightly less busy and they certainly don’t go quite as “History Teacher” in depth as Nile do into their lyrical subjects. Still, I never once got the vibe that this is some sort of Nile-lite. These guys can certainly pound it out, blasting and grinding when they see fit, but they add some of their own personality into proceedings rather than just coming off as an exact replica of their idols. ‘Remnants’ has a great use of simple melodies over a nice slow crawling riff, before firing into a turbo speed passage of riffage which is coated by deep growls, raspy hisses and metronomic blasts. Personally I prefer their slower, perverse passages to their faster material. A prime example of the finer moments of their work can be heard in the album title track ‘Prophetic’; starting with a slow, dusty opening section which has a lot going on within the guitar work, before sweeping into a barnstorming bridge, then collapsing back into that awesome twitching, re-animated corpse riff the song opened with. You can figuratively hear the shambling mummies grasping for you from the gloom!
Album closer ‘Last Gate’ is packed with atmosphere, whisking you away to an uncomfortably hot day as you drift down the Nile on a boat in ancient Egypt (and judging by the overwhelming feeling of dread in the song, you’re probably travelling to your doom). Eternal Rest have certainly created an album of competent eastern styled death metal, and while it’s not likely to turn your world upside down or have you doing backflips, it certainly has the chops to sate a ravenous metallers’ compulsion for dry, sand crusted extremity.
(7/10 Lars Christiansen)
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