THE NIGHT ETERNAL

Ahead of their time and gone-too-soon, dark occult Goth metallers IN SOLITUDE's 2013 "Sister" studio album has become an unofficial roadmap for the bands following in their wake. While it didn't appear so at the time, IN SOLITUDE left a gaping hole that, to some degree, has been filled by the likes of UNTO OTHERS, TRIBULATION, SPELL and, more recently, THE NIGHT ETERNAL, who very well may be the best act of the lot.

"Cold Velvet" is the German quartet's third full-length and first for Metal Blade, and sheds some of the unengaging songwriting aspects from their prior two efforts for a classy batch of eight songs that is anchored somewhere between SISTERS OF MERCY, THE MISSION and MERCYFUL FATE, if that description registers. The riffing here isn't exactly heavy, yet guitarists Rob Richter and Henry Käseberg craft angular chord shapes and melodies that carry a melancholic vibe that permeates through opener "Where This World Ends" and the downcast "When The Last Candle Dies". Richter and Käseberg also understand the value of restraint, a good quality considering who is fronting the band.

THE NIGHT ETERNAL rests largely on the shoulders of frontman Ricardo Baum. Baum, who also plays bass for black metal bastions IMHA TARIKAT, will likely be unable to avoid comparisons to IN SOLITUDE's Pelle Åhman for as long as he's clutching a mic, but it is of little matter considering how commanding his vocals are. His propensity for hooks is clear: just hitch your wagon to his shouts of "Don't look back!" on "Eurydice (Don't Look Back)" or the marching, militaristic, hypnotic "Caught In A Spell", where his drawn-out, emotive pleas in the chorus cannot be missed. Baum can also wade deep into Goth vocal territory ("The Veins Of Time") and hold his own when the songs kick it up a level with the tempo ("The Watcher Of The Burning Veil"). And, for further evidence of the man's capabilities, check out the coy vocal layering found on the closer "Dance On Crimson Ground". Brilliant stuff.

The first four songs on "Cold Velvet" are so good that it's easy to think the album is front-loaded. That's not entirely the case, which is why there is sufficient evidence to consider "Cold Velvet"THE NIGHT ETERNAL's true arrival point and the LP that should earn the Germans the attention they now so richly deserve. Aside from that, it's also one of 2026's best albums.