Already Eternal Storm‘s debut album Come The Tide generated some giant waves over here. A moon-driven show of force that waltzed straight onto the lofty heights of the RMR 2019 Top 10. A relatively rare occurrence, but not completely unheard of.
And that’s all great but – at the same time – kind of scary for a first-ever record of a band. Because this posed an immediate challenge to Eternal Storm. An invite from hell to – at least – produce an equal record for their sophomore run. The infamous second piece that often shipwrecks on overwrought ambition and even worse ideas. So, let’s board that storm chaser and take off. Four years of waiting must be worth it, right? Turbulences and stiff headwind ahead.
The gazillion or so of guest artists on A Giant Bound To Fail struck us first. A hefty nine extras came to the trio’s rescue with some illustrious names amongst them. Such as the mighty Dan Swanö who lent his voice to The Sleepers. That’s a heavy burden to coordinate and integrate with the danger that you’ll wreck your record with a bunch of bad choices. Yet another darkly slippery reef to navigate about.
But do you know what I like about this band? Eternal Storm wade into this metal thing without fear or favor and with a ton of energy to spare. Their style always sticks to the extreme spectrum of the metal multiverse. And that’s about the only concession the trio makes. Because – apart from that – it’s a free-for-all. And if anything, the energy on A Giant Bound To Fail just increased to twice the levels of Come The Tide. Already An Abyss of Unreason will take no prisoners and just stomp over you after a short ambient kind of intro. Because by 1:28, the schmoozing’s over, and hard chugging arrives with some thunderclap of Daniel R. Flys‘ anguished doomy screams. The aggression, this decapitation strike, really took us aback for a moment.
But fear naught, we’re not going into some sort of terrible ‘core session. The record will reach Eternal Storm‘s usual habitat shortly thereafter. Ferocious blast beats, vile riffs, and angry growls suddenly disintegrate into some ambient bliss. A mix of Atmospheric, Melodic, and Technical Death Metal that sometimes reminded me a tiny bit of Vvon Dogma I‘s shenanigans. Rare excursions into vocoder country included (end of Last Refuge, for instance). And the Melodeath parts are way beyond the traditional offerings bands like Insomnium usually provide.
To add to the allure, A Giant Bound to Fall also sports some lusty flow, much of it. Take the aforementioned sudden switches from abject metallic brutality to ambient and Post Metal parts that appear out of nowhere. Those are just skillfully executed and lead to a delicious ebb and flow of harsh and softer parts all over the record. You’ll find no hesitation, no scratchy breaks into other instruments, none of those awkward stutters that often appear on other records.
For instance, the changeover from Last Refuge (after the vocoder thing) to Eclipse is just masterful geekery. The song that tastily injects delicate tremolos and sports a dreamy quality all over. Or take in-track breakdowns found in Lone Tree Domain at around 3:15. Or the moment when everything slows down and Jaime Torres‘ keys kick in on An Abyss of Unreason by 9:04 or so. One of those instances that gave me goosebumps, imagine the magick this will create live on stage. In short, a pristine production greets you from every nook and cranny of this record. One that won’t lose any instrument along the way. And that despite a pretty wild complexity throughout A Giant Bound to Fall.
And often these changes in mood and tempo will bring about different vocal styles. Smooth crooning during the quieter passages, harsh growls when the chugging takes off to space, or simply multilayered vocal excursions into soundscapes unknown. Or – again – doom-laden screams when the theme loudly demands it. And the RMR crew got quite a kick out of the Incursed-ish group chanting (The Sleepers again, for example) that suddenly erupts. And all of that is often seconded by extended and frankly outstanding solos.
If there’s anything to quibble about on A Giant Bound to Fall, it is this tendency to noodle about the soundscape which led to a whopping 69 minutes of airtime. And that’s a big ask for any listening session that does – after all – require your full attention, there’s so much going on. Thus, some self-editing would have taken this record beyond its current astounding levels of quality.
Ultimately though, Eternal Storm surpassed themselves with their sophomore record. I hate to heap too much praise on early records, but A Giant Bound to Fall is firmly on course to hit one of the year-end top 10 lists the RMR crew issues. And we stand corrected, the Spaniards not only crafted a delicate yet deliciously harsh record, they also successfully integrated a gazillion guest contributors into an already complex offering. And they did this without losing a scintilla of powerful oomph, flow, and almost ethereal atmosphere they so artfully constructed. Lastly, however, the record is living proof that metal music is an art in and of itself. And this band just took it to the next level of excellence.
Ed’s note: And the record made it onto the 2024 Top 10 Records. Congrats!
Record Rating: 9/10 | Label: Transcending Obscurity Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 16 February 2024