It seems I’ve been a good boy this year as Santa was kind enough to drop ETERNITY’S END “Unyielding” under my Xmas tree. Given the amount of sheer musicianship and awesomeness characterizing the folks involved in the project, I think everyone who follows them since their debut, knows what their music is all about.
Picking up from where “The Fire Within” left off, “Unyielding” is all about what its predecessor did, however, this time everything got cranked to the maximum. With a blazing guitar duo, HIBRIA’s Iuri Sanson behind the mic and Mike LePond manning the bass, nothing can go wrong. The album is an excellent example of power metal with tons of neoclassical influences, shredding guitar solos and high pitched vocals, so, if THIS is the way you enjoy your metal, then you are definitely going to give “Unyielding” a lot of spins.
To be honest, I can’t say the band brings anything new to the table. And that’s perfectly fine. They excel in creating well-inspired music while delivering it in a very high quality manner. At the end of the day that’s all that matters to me. Now, on to the actual tracks included in the album, all I have to say is that it’s material that could had easily qualify them as a Shrapnel Records band back in the 80’s (especially the second half of the album). I think you get the point.
“Unyielding” is a concept album and if you want to know more about the story, here’s the plot from the man who wrote it:
The story is quite complex and covers an entire time span of 900 years. In a parallel reality an alien space craft by an alien race called the Pryarus crashes on earth in the year 1099 after Christ. Mankind is still very barbaric and uncivilised in those days and still guided by the law of the blade. Following the discovery of the technology found in the space vessel humanity develops a very advanced technological standard in an unnaturally short time period, providing them with very advanced weaponry and enabling interstellar space travels. Due to humanity’s social development being centuries behind their technological advancement they create a lot of unrest and stir in the galaxy and amongst themselves. The Pryarus, alarmed by a signal triggered in the crashed space vessel, are embarking to our solar system to attack earth in order to re-create the inter-cosmic balance, which ultimately creates a centuries lasting inter-stellar conflict.
You can read more about it in the ETERNITY’S END interview.
It’s a pity that quality albums come out a few days before New Year’s, a time when everyone in the music industry tends to unwind, thus leaving quality stuff such as this one go unnoticed. If you’re into bands like YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, VINNIE MOORE, SYMPHONY X, CACOPHONY, RACER X, DOFKA, etc. do yourself a favor and DON’T miss this one.
