Satyrian - Eternitas 4/5
Reviewed: 9-8-06
Tracklist:
1. Eternitas
2. Invictus
3. Feel the rush
4. My legacy
5. The dark gift
6. Sacred lies
7. The bridge of death
8. Fall from grace
9. No tears, no embrace
10. The haunted lovers
11. This dream
12. Ewigkeit
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One of the best gothic metal CDs I've heard in the last several months is Satyrian's debut 'Eternitas'. Reading extremely different genre descriptions kept me from grabbing this right when it was released, but thanks to some buddies that know what I love, the CD is now a major part of my listening rotation. It should be mentioned that some members of Satyrian were a part of the band Danse Macabre, who is also embedded in gothic metal. The big difference between the bands is that Danse Macabre only dabbled with the use of female vocals, while Satyrian offers up a wide variety of both male and female vocals. Thankfully (from my position), the female vocals dominate and this now popular "beauty and the beast" style is done in brilliant fashion on 'Eternitas'.
The CD reminds me a lot of last year's debut 'Unique' from the band Catafalque, or perhaps the latest Macbeth 'Malae artes' and latest Battlelore 'Third age of the sun', as both Macbeth and Battlelore went in a different direction (gothic metal) recently. If these mentioned CDs are unfamiliar, the music style of Satyrian could also be described as a blend of early Theatre of Tragedy (mostly 'Aegis') and Sirenia, with a few influences from some of the more aggressive bands like To Elysium, Vanguard and Forever Slave. 'Eternitas' is definitely pure gothic metal and contains many different tempos (mostly upbeat!), but with a lot less of the powerfully symphonic side that's so present in my CD collection. Classical orchestration does exist however, as is a frequent and well performed piano. While a small element, folkish parts are heard, most notably on track 7 "The bridge of death". I must also mention that I hear VERY little darkwave/industrial influence, and as someone who is turned off by those genres, I can assure you these short parts do not impact the music quality or take away from everything positive with the CD.
My favorite songs on 'Eternitas' are probably the uplifting track 5 "The dark gift" and the smooth track 9 "No tears, no embrace". But honestly, the CD is at a consistently excellent level throughout and is very easy to listen to. No fillers or poor songs are present, yet at the same time, nothing has blown me away either. Still, I'm glad I finally picked this up and if you're a fan of the gothic metal genre, you will be as well.
CLINT
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