Back when Southgate was Seventh Avenue's newest album, I didn't
really get too excited when listening to this band. Oh, it was a decent album. But it lacked that something that
really kept me interested. However, when the band released Between the Worlds in 2002, things changed
drastically. In my opinion, the leap between the two albums was very big. In a matter of a week, I had listened
to Between the Worlds numerous more times than I had listened to Southgate in the entire time I had the
album. The songs had character. They had passion. They sunk into your skull and wouldn't let go.
Enter the band's new offering, Eternals. While the jump is definitely not as
drastic as between the last two albums, the band continues to forge on creating solid and energetic German speed/power metal
in the vein of bands like Helloween or Gamma Ray. This disc was actually much harder for me to get into than Between
the Worlds. I listened numerous times and just didn't feel it. However, I pulled Between the Worlds
out and gave it one spin and my next listen to Eternals just came alive. Kinda weird.
Musically on this album, the band just blazes along at a furious pace on many of the songs.
The guitar playing is lightening fast and heavy with tons of tasty leads and guitar solos. The hooks on this disc are
thicker than molasses and the band will have you singing in your head long after you put the CD back in its case. And
Herbie Langhans vocals continue to shine on this disc like on their past efforts. He sounds somewhat close to a more
aggressive Les Carlsen (ex-Bloodgood). Although, I'd say that Langhan is a better all-around vocalist than Carlsen.
He just conveys so much passion in what he is singing.
Lyrically, while I don't have lyrics included with this promo, the band still stays with their
very bold God-centered lyrics. Production is good, but the artwork is somewhat "iffy". While it's a cool cover,
it looks kinda low-quality. A little bit blurry actually. Wouldn't be nice to have cleaner, crisper artwork.
But hey, as long as the music rocks...
Overall, the band continues to dish out some very nice, aggressive metal. While they might
not be the most original band on the block, they do what they do very well. Fans of their earlier offerings will be
all over this and will not come away disappointed. (Review by Matt)
