I've been listening to metal for quite some time now. I've checked out every subgenre there is to hear, so it's safe to say I know a good bit about the genre and what stuff is supposed to sound like. Also, I know when a band is something exceptional. By this point I can pick out the man among boys, if you will. When I was recently looking through some websites for technical metal artists with vocal melodies mixed with screaming, these guys were one of the first groups that appeared. Knowing nothing about them, I decided to give them a listen. After hearing the song "Distant Pale Future", I immediately knew that this band had both musical skill and superb songwriting abilities. This group as you know by now is called Into Eternity and this is their sophomore album
Dead Or Dreaming.
Into Eternity is comprised of:
Tim Roth - lead/death vocals, guitar
Daniel Nargang - lead/backing vocals, guitar
Jim Austin - drums, death vocals
Scott Krall - bass, backing vocals
I've shown this album to lots of my friends by now, and they've all gotten something out of it they enjoyed. My good metalhead friend of course loved it for the chugging riffs and screaming patterns. My girlfriend enjoyed this band because of the way the band uses clean vocals mixed in with the screaming, as she is a fan of post hardcore bands. Lots of other people I've shown this to said that they liked the band because they were incredibly talented musicians that had some speedy shred solos and the rhythm section got to shine as well. If you don't get it by now, this band is really perfect for just about anyone.
The album opens with
Absolution of the Soul which quickly enters with some low end chugging riffs, quickly followed by some great clean vocals. Just right after this you can see what the band is all about when the death vocals come in and are quickly accompanied by a headbanging breakdown. After only about one minute of listening you've heard the band combine the elements of death metal, progressive, tech metal, and maybe even some elements of post hardcore...so it's easy to see why this band draws in such a diverse group of listeners.
It always saddens me when a metal band overshadows their rhythm section and only lets their guitarists take the spotlight. Into Eternity avoids this altogether and allows both the bass and drums to have plenty of time to show off their stuff. Such songs as
Distant Pale Future show off Troy Bleich's impressive bass fills and other tracks like
Selling God will blow you back with Tim Austin's frequent double bass patterns and blast beats. For all of you bassists and drummers out there, don't feel like you'll be hearing another metal group that doesn't include you.
The guitars are, simply put, top notch. Rob Doherty and Tim Roth make a great duo with their style of riffing. These guys do it all, too. From low end headbanging riffs, harmonized patterns, swift soloing and the occasional acoustic guitar work, there's nothing not to like about Into Eternity's string section. These two draw in lots of different influences to create something all their own and it really works out. Their riffs never really become all that boring, either. The guitar parts are probably the main selling point of the band and everyone should give these two a listen.
The vocals are very solid almost all of the time. The band combines both clean and harsh vocals in their songs, similar to that of Shadows Fall or maybe even Opeth. Four out of five of the members also do vocals which allows plenty of time for Into Eternity to create multiple part harmonies that I can't help but be impressed by. There are a few setbacks to the vocals, though. The harsh vocals aren't the greatest that I've ever heard, but they still get the job done. They just aren't as full as I would have liked for them to be and may even turn a few listeners away if they're not used to metal. The clean vocals might also annoy some people, as they occasionally sound whiny. An example of this would be the song
Unholy (Fields of the Dead), in which the chorus contains some incredibly annoying singing that just makes me want to skip the song. The good thing about the album is...these two things are the only parts I don't love about Into Eternity!
So in short, you need this album. Why? Because it's perfect for a very broad range of listeners and they can all find something in this band that they can love. Whether it's the metal breakdowns, the impressive solos, harmonic singing, or anything else...it's great. You should really check this album out.
Best songs on the album:
Look at the tracklist.
Thor gives this album a 4/5
