Review Summary: Guilty but blameless.
Creeper was a big talking point of last year. Their
self-titled EP made a couple critics turn heads, but
Eternity, in Your Arms was their official leap into the mainstream. The English punks have been herald as one of the best new acts on the scene, and dare I say, the second coming of punk rock. It’s safe to say Creeper has a bright future ahead of them. Their blend of horror, emo, and punk has given them a distinct image as well as a rabid fan base.
Eternity, in Your Arms did a number for the group. Not only did they land a top spot on 2017’s Warped Tour, but it charted as the #1 rock and metal album in the UK. The reaction to
Eternity in Your Arms peaked my interest. Never have I seen a band rocket powered from the ground up the way Creeper has been. The fact that they made an impression in America is even more a testament to Creeper’s star power.
Eternity, in Your Arms is a confidently cool record with a lot of personality. Creeper isn’t shy about their influences and provides a plethora of songs derivative of AFI, Alkaline Trio, and My Chemical Romance. The album is set up similarly to
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. It’s inspired by James Scythe, a paranormal investigator, who went missing in Southampton. The track ‘Room 309’ references the room in which the tragedy took place. The production is similar to that of a 90’s punk record. The guitars aren’t crunchy, but it has a bright energetic tone to them. The bass is rumbling and clear and is present more often than other punk records. The drums don’t get mixed into the fray like modern records as well. Everything works together coherently for a debut album and one element doesn’t overshadow the other.
‘Room 309’ is the heaviest this album gets. It’s got a messy riff, blasting drums, and a thick bass blaring while Will Gould [frontman] treats us to Gerard Way-style vocals. ‘Suzanne,’ which arrives earlier, counteracts this with a fresher Meat Loaf-style grandiose. The building ‘now’ chants add to the songs unique character. ‘Winona Forever’ is a song that doesn’t get a lot of attention from reviewers, but it’s a good throwback to an old-school punk sound. The tremolo intro leads to a Misfits infused chorus. ‘Crickets’ is the only fully acoustic song on the album. It’s got a very swinging pattern and folky vibe as it tells a breakup ballad. The song focuses more on Hannah Greenwood than other songs. Her vocal performance is very strong and has a nice rasp during the chorus. ‘I Choose to Live’ is a theatrical closer to the album. It’s got a strong Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe going on. The vocal performances are extremely dramatic and huge as one would expect. It’s a great counterpart to ‘Black Rain,’ the opening track, which is a more pronounced rocker.
Eternity gets a little comfortable with itself during some portions. ‘Darling’ is a carbon copy of Alkaline Trio and is the most obvious fault of the album. Lyrics were very stylized for my taste. “At war with the world, yet worlds apart/To return is a promise I can’t make/You see, we together have The Callous Heart/Because Callous Hearts don’t break,” the intro from ‘Black Rain,’ I just didn’t like. It was needlessly dramatic and a bit much for the song. The song doesn’t really focus on that theme anyways and isn’t present until the latter half of the record. ‘Hiding with Boys’ is another with really dated lyrics. It’s obvious they’re deriving from The Cure in this number. “Hiding with the boys in your bedroom/Hiding the evidence of dying youth…” is really predictable especially with, “loving you is killing me,” following. They borrow so much from other bands that they don’t focus on the style they already have. It feels more like a tribute record than a debut.
Eternity, in Your Arms is a fine album altogether. There wasn’t anything mind-blowing and wasn’t worth the hype it received.
Eternity was hard for me to get into and I’m still not completely sold on it. Although there was a great concept here, it’s not very original or unique to the band for me to call it an achievement. Creeper holds a lot of promise and has a lot going for them, but that’s if they move past their indie status and focus on their own sound rather than someone else’s. There are some forgivable aspects to
Eternity. The pacing is great, the lyrics aren’t that bad, but they need to ground themselves in their next outing. I’d recommend this to young and old punk fans, emo fans, and alternative fans. It’s one of the better albums of 2017 despite its flaws. It’s still an album I occasionally revisit. It’s still worth checking into room 309 for a night.
Standout Tracks
Room 309
Poison Pens
Winona Forever
Black Rain
