ETERNAL EVIL
The Gates Beyond Mortality
LISTENABLE
9/10
BLACK THRASH MAYHEM: After two minutes of solidly building anticipation on “Depths of a New Eternity,” Eternal Evil lives up to the title of de facto opener “Guerilla Warfare,” as the band comes bombing out of nowhere with speedy, razor sharp riffs and drums and vocals to match, setting the stage on The Gates Beyond Mortality, a modern take on old school thrash.
“Funeral Prayers” takes things to the next level with blistering guitars, thumping percussion and the like, proving an early highlight on The Gates Beyond Mortality. Guitarists Adrian Tobar and Tobias Lindström lead the charge here, delivering a memorable six string blitz attack, complete with a sinister solo for good measure. This uptempo shredfest should effectively get all of our collective heads banging. It’s hard not to hear some early Slayer influence throughout “The Desecration of Light,” high praise indeed, though truly warranted, “Immolation” introduces a cleverly placed call-and-response hook to go along with some absolutely venomous fretwork. This is as much a throwback to the much beloved Bay Area thrash scene of yesterday as you’ll hear anytime soon, proof that, while modernized in most aspects, The Gates Beyond Mortality is an album that will satiate and excite even the most curmudgeonly old school thrash heads. Eternal Evil doesn’t bother to take their foot off the gas going into closer “The Cursed Trilogy” either, stuffing 10 pounds of riffs into a five pound bag by way of this seven minute-plus heavy metal opus. That is actually a perfect summation of this record—all gas and no brakes.
These youthful thrashers from Sweden (two of the band members haven’t even reached the ripe old age of 20 yet) have captured something to behold on The Gates Beyond Mortality, and while it’s certainly a big ask for any one singular album to ensure the health of one entire genre, this might just be the album to do so, and Eternal Evil might just be the band that safeguards the future of thrash. ~ Brian Campbell
