Plague-era enhanced black magick in hand and a rotten voice in ear, they come calling for our inevitable nuclear decimation to be expedited with the self-fulfilling prophecy of the apocalypse glaring in mind as Oslo, Norway-based black metal act Eternity return sooner than expected with this latest full-length album. ‘Mundicide‘ may not have the benefit of countless years of development and refinement as their previous LP had but it nonetheless represents a distinctly Norwegian style of black metal which is inspired by the early-to-mid 90’s ideal in its various emergent state. By way of matured classicist craft they’ve managed a compelling response to the chaos of late anthropocene-era mania today, a follow-up record which does well to bring variety and ambition to the wrathful energy one would expect from the unit at this point of revival.

Eternity formed circa 2003 as the main solo project of Oslo-based musician Evighet who’d generally gotten his start with a black/thrash metal band Nuctemeron in the mid 90’s though he’d been at work on a black/doom metal band with Blasphemer (Mayhem, Ruïm) from 1992-1994. Several projects would come and go during that time as the artist would eventually build ties with current/former members of Nocturnal Breed and various other bands ’til about 2006 when the project was set aside for a decade. Since I’ve no access to any material from the band’s past, and I’m not sure which record was officially the debut their deep underground legacy won’t inform my thoughts.

The return of the group was delayed, or at least belabored for a few years but eventually struck upon a damned gem with ‘To Become the Great Beast‘ (2019) which’d been one of the better under-the-radar releases of that month and ended up on my Best of September 2019. Many of those songs appeared to have been developed from demos from the early-to-mid 2000’s and as such that first record benefitted from years of development into a refined, riff-forward and incredibly representative Norwegian black metal record. ‘Mundicide‘ by comparison seems to pull from a new place, or, arrives from a different set of sensibilities and demands which nonetheless yield a similar result, a more modern point of view in some respects which loses some of the 2000’s-era black metal chaotic touch in favor of covering more ground while taking on more variety.

The essence of early second wave black metal contains at least some manner of growth-in-process, an uncertainty of form where a volatile clash between performative ex-death metal tics and the dark speed/heavy metal adjacent bravado that’d sparked many early classics, records which’d show their evolution from primitive capability to self-enlightened unlearning. The core Norwegian black metal style post 1992 is not necessarily documented directly within Eternity‘s work but we do see this output as representing the tenets of ‘old school’ Norse black metal in general where it counts, the riffs and rhythmic threads they’ve written for each of their three full-lengths. ‘Mundicide‘ doesn’t have the most distinct render or production value and the performances are largely held together by the mainlined guitar action where compositions hold fast to a certain sound cut from an old, non-revisionist cloth. “Journey Towards the Darkside” in particular represents the breadth of the experience without showing all of the cards available, picking up mid-conversation and armed with a strong melodic edge to its attack. All signs initially point to this record continuing the main thread that ‘To Become the Great Beast‘ had started.

The tone and rhythmic notions which drive ‘Mundicide‘ are classic yet varietal nonetheless, breaking from the extreme tunnel vision and raw sound design of the previous worth with host of styles covered. “O Discordia” is arguably more along the lines of black/thrash metal in its core movement, “Gunmetal Sky” has the rocking half-step between first and second wave dynamics and we soon hit upon good ole ‘To Mega Therion‘-sized riffs (“Under the Gaze of the King”) which do ultimately reference to a distinctly Norwegian species of black metal record. While those were the most memorable points on the album up front the somewhat modernized melodic tangents (“Mundicide”, “Pest! Frykten i den andres øye”) found elsewhere represent some of the more lasting, potent songcraft on the full listen as a whole; While half of the record seems to take it easier and seeks a traditional black metal groove the more impassioned side of things would ultimately reprise what I’d liked so much about the previous album.

The two bigger surprises on ‘Mundicide‘, the chorale-braced Kawir-esque (or Hades-esque?) jogging epic “Hymn” and the gnarled thrashing of ~11 minute closer “The Seventh Seal” offer ambitious strides away from expected sounds and compositional extensions ultimately produce a better rounded representation of Eternity, one which feels less staked to the ground by scene and old history. After some considerable time spent listening to this record I’d become torn between appreciating the ambitious scope of style and expanding signature for the band while also finding it just condensed enough to feel a bit all over the place, scattered in its larger thought. As a standalone introduction to the band it should read as above average, skilled and studied in the old ways better than most, but as a follow-up to ‘To Become the Great Beast‘ it might take some time to adjust in mind as a more adaptive but less direct species. Though I prefer a colder, meaner edge to this type of black most of the time I’m left appreciating the caliber and scope of the work they’ve managed here. A moderately high recommendation.

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