Album Review: Eternal Armageddon - In Light In Dark In Hate
Reviewed by Jon Wigg
Bengali blackened thrash outfit Eternal Armageddon burst onto the global scene with their debut album ‘In Light In Dark In Hate’. And what an introduction it is! Seven tracks of blisteringly heavy thrash with a black metal heart pumping the evil throughout. Palm-muted thrash riffs combined with blast beat drums and a vocal performance straight out of 1990’s Norway.
Now this album isn’t without some issues, the main one being the guitar solos. Long a staple of thrash, they are present but just not great, often breaking up the flow of otherwise good tracks. There is also a lot of simplistic song-writing. In an age where the second wave of thrash is evolving and only this year has already given us new, layered and complex records from titans Testament and Sepultura, plus new boys Hazzerd, this does feel like stepping back a few steps.
But forget the complexity, this album is great. Each track a highlight in its own way with (apart from the solos) excellent performances from all three members - Abrar on vocals and bass, Turag on guitar and Rashik on drums. Turag can clearly hold a thrash riff and these are brutal. The production is also good. The album was originally released on CDR (remember those?) to local fans in Bangladesh, and has been remastered by James McBain (Hellripper) to great effect.
‘Black Thrash Bastards’ kicks off proceedings with the blast beat and black metal influences coming through from the start, eventually dualling with some more traditional mid-paced thrash sections in the middle. The solo from this opener really sets the tone for the rest of the album and feels out of place here - almost slow and ponderous compared to the track overall. While in ‘Black Thrash Bastards’ it felt like the black metal element won the battle, in ‘Hate Reincarnated’ the thrash is definitely the victor, with another weak solo letting this absolute banger down. ‘Hazam the Black Reaper’ has a traditional thrash opening before letting loose the speed during the second half, and a lack of solo is both noticeable and welcome.
The title track ‘In Light In Dark In Hate’ follows the opposite format to ‘Hazam’ starting off like a house on fire before ramping up the heaviness while slowing things down and adding some swing. The last 3 tracks are all good examples of Eternal Armageddon’s forte - great blackened thrash with no nonsense, loads of attitude, brutality and crunching riffs.
Overall I loved this album. Despite the aforementioned issues, this as a debut is a great start to what will hopefully be a long career for these Bangladeshi Black Metallers.
'In Light In Dark On Hate' is released on April 10th.
