Guitarist Christian Muenzner may be well known for his exceptional work with the death/technical metal acts such as Necrophagist and Obscura but it is actually power/neoclassical and progressive metal that he is a big fan of. In the past Muenzner hasn't just been invloved with Death Metal releases as his instrumental solo albums presented the opportunity to divulge in those other influences. So now he has taken it even further as we find his new group called Eternity's End, and they have recorded a fantastic album titled The Fire Within.
Eternity's End sure have one of the most talented line-up around that certainly caught my eye big time, the majority of which have worked with Muenzner previously. With the top tier rhythm section of bass player Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Alkaloid) and drummer Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Blotted Science, ex. Obscura). The quality performers don't stop there as on lead vocals is the very talented Ian Parry (ex-Elegy, Consortium Project) and there is a masterful showing by keyboardist Jimmy Pitts (The Fractured Dimension, Spastic Ink) who certainly doesn't take a back seat as he gets plenty of show time and dishes out that electrifying soloing. Besides the quality of the content The Fire Within also sounds so impressive which isn't surprising as it was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Per Nilsson ( Scar Symmetry).
Fans of power and neoclassical metal will have a great time with this album, the guitar shredding is to the max and there's loads of blistering keyboards and not to mention those exciting trade-offs. Up first there is the exhilarating metal of "The Fire Within" a powerful track with scintillating instrumental passages and Parry's endearing vocals. "Demonblade" features further irresistible content as Parry hits the high ones and the band is on fire, "The Hourglass" is another potent power metal track with a rich melodic chorus. One of the issues with these kinds of neo-classical influenced albums is they can become just too repetitive with the constant trail blazing, no such problems here though with enough variety to keep you entertained. It's also very interesting to hear how well those involved who are more recognised for other formats have so easily adapted to this kind of metal, like Hannes Grossmann who is one of the finest technical/extreme metal drummers and you couldn't have asked for a better performance than the one which he has delivered here.
The Fire Within is everything I hoped it would be and then some, and I would be most eager to see further releases by this exhilarating new metal band.
Track Listing
1. The Fire Within
2. Demonblade
3. The Hourglass
4. Eagle Divine
5. White Lies
6. Twilight Warrior
7. Chains Of The Earth
8. The Dark Tower
9. Moonstruck
10. The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
