Death lands upon the psyche as a blanketing of volcanic ash, a suffocating havoc upon the senses in the present and a potentially enriched landscape for whatever proves strong enough to endure in the future. Summoning both ancient grief and recent loss into one mournfully built pillar of abysmal gloom and tireless introspection Eskilstuna, Sweden-borne death-doom metal quintet ETERNAL DARKNESS chisel a monolithic headstone in representation of their lasting mark left upon the death metal underground per this first (and last) full-length album. Realized thirty-five years beyond their inception with a true sense for authenticity still burning in mind ‘Eternal Darkness‘ is exactly the album obscure pre-’93 demo tape trawlers have been imagining for decades, a revival of the primal instincts of Scandinavian death metal mutation which is yet unperturbed by the diminishing returns successive generations have dealt through the passage of time. Here a sublime argument is made for the timeless effect of death and doom metal in serious combine by way of profound and patiently cut works, each spouting mournful wrath along this exceptionally bleak funeral procession.

Eternal Darkness were briefly known as Necropsy when they formed circa 1990 as the death metal scene in their area expanded beyond the extreme thrash of Chronic Decay and Macrodex unto myriad possibilities, inspiring more folks and friends to contribute as groups split or spawned side-projects. Eskilstuna had many promising troupes form around this time, such as Exanthema and House of Usher, but maybe the best known are The Black and of course Crypt of Kerberos both of whom have direct ties to this group, though it would be fair to say that this band’s work was one of a kind within their general sphere. Originally active from 1990-1994 with most of their recordings occurring between 1991-1992 the bulk of the documentation on this band comes from posthumous interviews and of course maestro Ekeroth‘s book where he’d described them as “Slow, crushing death metal, like a deadly Candlemass with ultra-brutal vocals“. It was that description plus a comparison to one of my favorite bands, Gorement, that’d introduced me to their music back in ~2007, or, a few years after the ‘Total Darkness‘ (2006) compilation had released. That compilation is the most complete document of their work and provides the best direct provenance as it is presented in chronological order, including (most of) the band’s unreleased album ‘Twilight in the Wilderness‘. A small part of my brain will never rest knowing that album wasn’t realized in full, though there is some consolation in this new record which carries on as if the last thirty years of dead silence passed overnight.

Taking the ~75 minute walk through Eternal Darkness‘ brief past will present iterative progression of a simple enough idea, slow and nails-heavy death metal built upon an uncomplicated grasp of doom metal forms. The aforementioned unreleased album, often distributed online via a ’92 promo tape rip, introduced some use of melodic lead guitars and additional keys to flesh out their original approach with broader atmospheric directive. The bulk of said atmosphere was yet generated via their mercilessly suffocating rhythm guitar tones, downtuned sonic heft that’d resembled two tectonic plates grinding past in geologic time. If you take this trip through the past first and dive right into ‘Eternal Darkness‘ today you’ll find that original idea, voice and massive guitar tone not only preserved but amplified into admirable pinnacle thirty five years later. As was the case with the glorious return of Moondark last year these folks have made good on the real thing, the original idea, with new material and in turn delivered exactly what longtime fandom and in-hindsight worshippers wanted.

Reawakened in 2019 with original drummer Make Pesonen and vocalist Janne Heikkinen joined by folks from Eternal Autumn and early Svartsyn on deck Eternal Darkness began the process of realizing this new album in late 2022 before working with producer/engineer Peter Bjärgö (Crypt Of Kerberos, et al.) to create a sound which makes great sense in its amped-up recreation of the band’s simple yet imposing signature. When opener “The Beyond” first hit I’d been struck with two-pronged awe in that ‘Eternal Darkness‘ not only sounded like Eternal Darkness should but resounded with this enormous dark-matter fed rhythmic layer which strikes with more brutality than most else I’ve heard in the death/doom metal realm this year. Not only does this level of sound design serve to shake the guts loose but it allows the steadfast ‘old school’ death/doom metal hand of the band to realize depth which was only suggested within their demo era… and likewise present a sound any nowadays fan of (early) Spectral Voice, Krypts or similarly ‘old school’ inspired groups will instantly appreciate. The awe of the production values applied to the band’s sound acted the main spectacle up front on my part but it was the sauntering lurk-and-lure of the lead guitar melody stoked throughout that first song that’d re-linked my mind to prime underground pre-’93 Scandinavian death metal brain waves going forward, instant immersion on my part.

The columnar trod of “Pungent Awakening” has this world-shaking reverberation to its funereal motioning, again the song itself is simple enough at face value in terms of its general timing and rhythmic shape yet the effect is unreal where subterranean sounds and an intentioned hand meet. Just as I might suggest ‘The Ending Quest‘ has a Finndeath-doom adjacency in some respects so does much of ‘Eternal Darkness‘ and part of this comes by way of leads from John Carlsson, one of the more important voicings applied to this record in terms of developing memorable streaks of somewhat melodic direction. The most lasting example of this in direct focus is probably standout instrumental “Funeral”, a piece which breaks right into its accompanying leads and carries through its full ~three minute ride, otherwise the thread that develops a few minutes into “Death Above All” offers an example of this application defining and reshaping the path of a song.

Side B is no less eventful than the first half of the album with each of its four songs likewise worth mentioning though I’d say “Into the Crematory” b/w “When Life Ends” do well to represent the essence of Eternal Darkness in terms of both the classic ideal expected and their path built upon the past. “Into the Crematory” does a bit of both as its trudging doom metal riff offers a cold procession ’til the funeral death-doom worthy apex of the piece erupts around ~3:20 minutes in. It’d read as a gate of passage toward the second half, a reveal beyond a point of no return which escapes the more familiar structuring of their work (see also: “Death Above All”) and otherwise flows right into the next piece. “When Life Ends” is arguably the keystone here where these fellowes do what they do best with eerie atmosphere and thunderously pulsing dread-tones, kicking up the pace a bit akin to the way the first two demos each find a reason to modulate their step a bit. That note on funeral death-doom sounds should ring again in mind when closer “Til Death” hits thanks to its surreal use of synths/sounds draped across its intro and outro and, again, I think there is a case for each piece on this record making its own impact but it’ll all carry more weight when experience on your own.

The full listen of ‘Eternal Darkness‘ is entirely consistent with the early 90’s sound and experience of Eternal Darkness as a plodding, unflinchingly heavy variant on pure death metal and this authenticity is its most striking achievement beyond the crush of their riffs. With that said I’d reiterate that they’ve bolstered this with material that is full-length worthy with ‘Doomed‘ and ‘Twilight in the Wilderness‘ in mind both in its expression and sound design. Beyond the sonic lustre and ‘old school’ appeal of these motions these songs’ve been written for their effect, carrying a sense for the misery of doom and the morbid objection of death metal in this way they escape the nowadays random generation and placement of soulless riff variants which so often plagues backwards-looking death-doom metal riffcraft. The eerie gloom available here is so heavily weighted upon the skull that it becomes oppressive, damning in its weight in such a way that reflects a more pure era of not-so self-conscious or studied extremity. The lasting effect here is bittersweet for the sake of circumstance as this record serves as both a triumph of a debut LP, a tribute to lost souls, and a respectable farewell for a band that’d left their mark(s) with a wide gulf of time between impact yet lacked nothing upon return. A very high recommendation.

---