Into Eternity, The Haunted Preview
Into Eternity, The Haunted
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Metro, Chicago
A handful of countries are associated with nurturing heavy metal into what it is today. Britain gave us seminal bands like Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden; Norway will always be known as black metal’s home; America spawned thrash; Sweden’s fingerprints are all over death metal. Canada, well . . .
Our northern neighbor hasn’t exactly been a hotbed of headbanging through the years. Let’s see, there’s Voivod; Anvil, we think, are from Canada; Strapping Young Lad are led by a Canadian, Devin Townsend; and don’t forget Jeff Waters and Annihilator. We likely left out a few noteworthy names, but not many. Regina, Saskatchewan’s Into Eternity hope they can change that. Last year’s The Scattering Of Ashes is a whirlwind of aggression, melody, and musical chops that impressed Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine enough to invite the group to play last year’s Gigantour festival. Mustaine handpicks acts with a goal of giving fans the chance to see some of the most technically accomplished the genre has to offer, and Eternity fit the bill. Their blend of old-school power metal and new-school extreme metal bubbles with the boiling fret work of Tim Roth, but it’s actually the vocals that are most intriguing. Stu Block leads an unpredictable three-prong attack, also including Roth and bassist Troy Bleich, just as likely to use King Diamond-like falsettos as they are Chris Barnes (Six Feet Under, ex-Cannibal Corpse)-ish death grunts.
Labelmates The Haunted come from more established geographical pedigree, Sweden, and just a few years ago were an act pegged to be the “next big thing” in metal. Started by two former members (drummer Adrian Erlandsson and guitarist Anders Björler — Erlandsson left the band after their self-titled debut) of the iconic At The Gates, Haunted’s 2004 release, Revolver, was all the rage in critical circles. That’s why it was so surprising its follow-up, last year’s The Dead Eye, has been so unhyped. Eye‘s semi-commercial aspirations may turn off longtime fans, but The Haunted should get credit for at least trying to rid itself of the tired Swedish melodic death metal sound that has been beaten lifeless during the last five years.
The Haunted headline, and Into Eternity, along with Dark Tranquility and Scar Symmetry, open.
— Trevor Fisher
Click here to download Into Eternity’s “Sever Emotional Distress.”
Click here to download The Haunted’s “The Medication.”
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly
