THE ETERNAL

Unassuming Australian / Finnish gothic metal quartet THE ETERNAL released one of 2024's true sleepers with "Skinwalker". A heartstring tugger backed with muscular, boulder-sized melodic riffs that seesaw between current-day PARADISE LOST, DRACONIAN and NOVEMBRE, THE ETERNAL, after 21 years of not really mucking about anywhere other than The Land Down Under, enjoyed the requisite good press and tidings. It also helps that current AMORPHIS drummer Jan Rechberger has been with the band since 2020 and former AMORPHIS bassist Niclas Etelävuori has been with them since 2021. With some name recognition in tow and a critics' choice behind them, THE ETERNAL, in what should be their next-level album, have slipped back down a notch with "Obscured Horizons".

Founding member, vocalist and guitarist Mark Kelson may, at times, resemble THE VERVE PIPE's Brian Vander Ark (remember them?),but he's got such a hang of arching vocal melodies that he often eclipses whatever THE ETERNAL has got going on in the riff department. Opening cut "Lament For The Hollow" is the exact kind of song formula that carried "Skinwalker", with Kelson belting a big-time chorus that is followed by a ripping solo from Richie Poate. "Existing To Expire" gets moving with a Euro-dance pulse that reveals the band's natural goth pulse. From there it's when THE ETERNAL runs into trouble.

Whatever dark overtones that followed "Skinwalker" around are difficult to find on the poppy, unbalanced "Colours Fade", which is a throwaway. "Harmony Breaks" starts in appropriate, heavy fashion, then gets lulled into a ponderous verse that Kelson doesn't help with an elongated build into a quirky chorus, while the sagging, reflective "I've Seen The Dream" continues a mid-album run of cuts that sucks the oxygen out of the room.

"Liminality" breaks up the monotony with a syncopated opening rhythm, but, again, Kelson's vocal choices in the verse don't work (even with piles of harmonies). The title track and, more notably, "Yesterday's Gone" tread very close to dude-rock territory, especially the latter, which, even with its chuggier rhythms, doesn't account for the lack of dynamics. (And, for what it's worth: Etelävuori and Rechberger dutifully play their parts here. No AMORPHIS bleed over to be found.)

"Obscured Horizons" is a real miss from THE ETERNAL. One can effortlessly skate through "Skinwalker" and find something of value from each of the album's nine cuts and 65 minutes of airplay. ("When The Fire Dies" is a triumph.) "Obscured Horizons", unfortunately, is not the kind of album THE ETERNAL needed to follow up on its predecessor. It felt like they were on the verge of something great. Back to the drawing board.