New INTO ETERNITY Singer Speaks Out

New INTO ETERNITY singer Stu Block (of Vancouver's OMEGA CROM) recently spoke to MetalEater.com about how he landed the IE gig and the group's future plans, among other topics. An excerpt from the interview follows:

MetalEater.com: How did you first come into contact with INTO ETERNITY? If I am not mistaken (via my ever-reliable "metal grapevine") word has it that they approached you first. Is this true?

Stu Block: "OMEGA CROM played a show in Regina, SK a year and a half ago. Tim Roth was there and he saw the onslaught and knew about me. Later on we started talking on the Internet and he had mentioned that things may not work out with Dean (the last singer). He invited me out to Regina to try out for the position of lead vocals. I said yes and the rest is history."

MetalEater.com: What do you feel are the strengths that you will be bringing to the INTO ETERNITY camp? Obviously Chris Krall's/Dean Sternberg's departure(s) — both within such a relatively short period of time — have left a big pair of shoes to fill and expectations are high. What do you expect the reaction of long-time fans to be when you hit the stage?

Stu Block: "I feel I will bring a lot of energy to the live show and believe me when I say that INTO ETERNITY would not choose someone that couldn't do the job and do it well. I agree that Chris Krall/Dean Sternberg are both really talented fellows, but I am not worried. I am hitting all the notes that he can and the harmonies are locking in perfectly. As far as the fans go, all I can say is come out and decide for yourself...I promise you will not be disappointed!!"

MetalEater.com: INTO ETERNITY could best be described as an aggressive, technical melodic death metal band, although I would personally venture to say that their style enters much more progressive terrain than that of many of their peers. How great of a leap — stylistically — has this been from your previous band efforts? How challenging was it for you to learn the material? What are your impressions from the initial rehearsals with the band?

Stu Block: "Stylistically it's all clean chest tone to falsetto work and death vocals. So, it's not too different from OMEGA CROM, but there are four singers in INTO ETERNITY, which helps me out too. In OMEGA CROM, I hold down the majority of death and all the clean singing. I have been a fan of the music for something like 3 1/2 years and have listened to the albums a lot...and I mean A LOT (laughs)!! So I was already very familiar with the material and was very impressed. It seemed very surreal to be rehearsing with these guys. We seem to all work very well together...and there are no egos, which was a relief. They are all wicked musicians and great down-to-earth guys."

Read Stu Block's entire interview with MetalEater.com at this location.