Review: Into Eternity – The Sirens
Ten years. It has been ten years since Into Eternity last released an album.
Its also been five years since Amanda Kiernan joined the band. Replacing vocalist Stu Block who went on to front Iced Earth. Now Into Eternity returns with a new album called The Sirens that will be released this Friday. With such a large gap between albums, one has to wonder if the band still has it? Or are they rusty from such a long recording hiatus?
Starting off the album is the title track, “The Sirens”. The song starts of with some calming piano, however while it is beautiful it does become a bit repetitive, and seems a bit too long despite only being a minute and forty-five seconds long. At that point, we’re treated to some satisfying guitar work as the vocals kick in. As a whole, the song is satisfying but unremarkable.
Following “The Sirens” is the “Fringes of Psychosis”, a highly energetic song that reminds me of both Arch Enemy and Unleash the Archers. This song is easily my favorite on the album, with the guitar and bass complimenting the superb vocal performance of Amanda Kiernan. While the “Fringes of Psychosis” is easily one of the most memorable songs on the album, “Sandstorm” is one of the most forgettable. While the song itself is good, I don’t find myself coming back to this song on subsequent listens. It should also be noted that this song was originally recorded in 2011 with Stu Block on vocals.
The forgettable nature of the previous song also occurs with “This Frozen Hell”. Both tracks sound like the same tired rehashing of Arch Enemy’s brand of melodic death metal. On the other hand, “Nowhere Near” is perhaps the softest song on the album and reminds me a little bit of early Dark Tranquility. This more tranquil approach (pun intended) is a nice change of pace and makes this song stand out among the other tracks on the album.
While “Nowhere Near” was a break from ground well-trodden by Arch Enemy, “Devoured by Sarcopenia” goes back to the well for more of the same. It does have its interesting moments, it really doesn’t stand out on the album. The following track, “Fukushima” is one of the more unusual tracks on this album. As the title suggests, its lyrics talk about at the infamous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, providing an intriguing and moving break from the more fantasy themed lyrics on the rest of the album. Just like the track “Sandstorm”, this song was orginally recorded years earlier with Stu Block on vocals.
Closing out the album is “The Scattering of Ashes Pt2” which provides a soft closing to the album. While beautiful, its doesn’t anything add anything to the album except serve as a filler eighth track.
The Sirens is not the triumphant return of Into Eternity. While not a bad record, its just uninspired. This record sounds like a generic melodic death metal record that could have come from any number of bands. This is a shame, as I feel there is potential for the band to use Amanda Kiernan vocals to stand out among the crowd of melodic death metal bands. Furthermore, the fact that this eight track album had to include songs written and originally recorded five or more years ago is a little bit of a cop out. Had this album been a bit longer or the wait for it shorter, the inclusion of these re-recorded tracks would be more tolerable. With all that in mind, The Sirens gets 3 out of 5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell.
You can check out Into Eternity by visiting their Facebook page or by heading over to their Bandcamp where you can purchase of stream their music.