• Home
• Subscribe
• Store
• Service/FAQ

Embrace the Eternal

Oh my! These guys join their labelmates Warlord in defying definition. In one word: metal! The first thing that will immediately jump on you and pin you to the floor is the lightning quick speed and tightness of this unit. If you’re caught unawares by this group, you might even feel like you’re Popeye and Brutus is punching you repeatedly in the face, with his knees pinning your shoulders to the ground. The double bass riffs have that effect. This image really comes to mind in the song, “Prophesy,” where I hear shouts of “prophesy,” which sound similar to the taunts that Jesus faced in His tortuous beating. Sonically it’s refreshing to hear all the different instruments clearly in the midst of an aural assault like this. One of the funny comments I heard about this album was, “They waste so many riffs, man! They use almost an album’s worth of riffs in just one song!” This allegation is almost an accurate description of Embodyment. They don’t seem happy to capitalize on one riff for too long, before they run through a time change or a completely different groove and then another and then another. If you don’t follow along, you might not even be aware that you’re listening to the same song! And they don’t just stick with speed riffing, either. Sometimes they’ll churn out a slow and beefy riff that could be used as military marching music, or in a Black Sabbath tribute song.

The other defining part of this band is the black metal like screeching for vocals that are everywhere. It’s not as extreme as much of the Norwegian black metal vocalizing, though, and it’s fairly decipherable most of the time.

Man, these guys are heavy! And boy have they shown improvement since their demos from 1995! If you see these guys live first, you’ll be amazed that they can pull it off in the studio. If you hear the album first, you’ll be amazed that they can pull it off live! Either way, this new band is in a win/win situation. Fans of hard music from both the metal and punk sides of the fence will embrace for this band. [Solid State/ Doug Van Pelt]