Eternity’s End: Embers of War

After signing with Prosthetic Records Eternity’s End are ready for the next chapter in their growing career. Embers Of War is the band’s 3rd full length album and continues on the path of blistering Technical Power Metal in the tradition of early Helloween, Blind Guardian and Yngwie Malmsteen’s neoclassical shred. Formed in 2014 by guitarist extraordinaire and songwriter Christian Muenzner (Obscura, Paradox, Alkaloid, ex-Necrophagist), Eternity’s End have been through a series of line up changes on their way to perfecting their sound as well as evolving into a band that would logistically be able to tour.

The music on Embers Of War is a total love letter to the band’s power metal and guitar heroes. Replete with a mind-bending dual guitar attack from the master Christian Muenzner and new recruit Justin Hombach from German Progressive Metal band “AeoS�. Pummeling and expert drumming from another star member in Hannes Grossman who’s discography is just as long and impressive. The bass duties are handled by another master and one of my personal favorites, Linus Klausenitzer who also has a resume to boast about. Finally rounding out the all-star line-up is ex-Hiberia vocalist Luri Sanson who does a fantastic job handling the fist pumping epic power and catchiness, and pretty cool story-teller style lyrics on Embers Of War. The guitar playing is explosive with every song loaded with lead brakes and solos in the style of Cacophony or Racer X. Hannes and Linus show how important a muscular and powerful sounding rhythm section can be for this style of music. Both men added so much dynamism to the music.

The whole album is fantastic and extremely consistent throughout so picking standout tracks is challenging here. “Arcturus Prime� is one that first comes to mind, having all the ingredients of the other tracks but also including a ripping bass solo. “Dreadnought (The Voyage of the Damned)� and “Bane of The Blacksword� is a killer one two punch to open the album. The explosive power of Hannes’ drum intro and the band’s full frontal attack on “Deathrider� is also very cool. And finally the title track itself “Embers Of War'', which wraps up the album, is another showcase of the bands songwriting and performance powers.

When I first heard that Canadian guitar wizard Phil Tougas ( First Fragment, Chthe’ilist, ex-Eternity’s End, Serocs) had left the band I was skeptical about how this album would turn out. However the reconfigured band has come back just as strong or perhaps even stronger. Yes I think the guitar interplay between Christian and Phil on the previous album Unyielding was so uniquely special, in the same way Becker and Friedman were special together in Cacophony, that it is somewhat missed here. However I think the songs overall are stronger here and the band performances are all top tier and loaded with power. If more Power Metal was like Embers of War I’d be a much bigger fan of the genre. This is for Power Metal fans who like it heavy and fast, loaded with great and memorable hooks and guitar shred of the highest order.

ETERNITY'S END is:
Iuri Sanson - Vocals
Christian Muenzner - Guitars & Keyboards
Justin Hombach -Guitars
Linus Klausenitzer - Bass
Hannes Grossmann- Drums

Tracklisting:
1. Dreadnought (The Voyage Of The Damned)
2. Bane Of The Blacksword
3. Hounds Of Tindalos
4. Call Of The Valkyries
5. Arcturus Prime
6. Shaded Heart
7. Deathrider
8. Embers Of War

Added: December 4th 2021
Reviewer: Benjamin Dudai
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 955
Language: english

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