While a Christian metal label, Rottweiler Records has been home to slightly more unorthodox Christian metal, mostly straying away from the heavily populated metalcore/deathcore realms reserved for Facedown and Strikefirst records (that said, the recent Voluntary Mortification does fit in that genre).

They have been able to locate Christian brutal death metal bands ( Taking the Head of Goliath, Mangled Carpenter), some death/grind (Krig), black metal (Light Unseen), melo-death (Immortal Souls, Absent From the Body, Pantokrator), some thrash (Brotality), some blackened death metal (Frost Like Ashes) and some symphonic black/death metal (Symphony of Heaven, Death Requisite). Some of it is good, and some of it is not so good. But they located a good one and one that does symphonic melodic/black metal pretty well.

Hailing from Portland Oregon and with members that seem to be mainly from late ’00s melodic death metal act Beyond the Red Horizon, Forsaken Eternity has a distinct sound that the promotional material says is for ‘fans of Wintersun, Children of Bodom, and Vesperian Sorrow‘, and that’s actually pretty accurate. I’ll go ahead and throw in the likes of 90s acts Lothlorien, Skyfire, and recent act, Primalfrost in there as well.

Keyboard-filled, technical, melodic black/death metal with rasped vocals is the order of the day here, of course with Christian themes and lyrics.  Go straight to the second, standout track “A Dark Divinity” to hear confirmation of all the above bands listed and influences it hits all those notes with a busy, shreddy, majestic take on melodic black/death metal rife with twinkling upbeat keyboards.. Similarly, solid tracks like pure 90s “Shadow Fortress” and the wonderfully catchy title track all deliver the same pomp and solo-filled grandiosity. And it’s even more impressive that this was written and recorded during COVID from separate locations.

As a bonus track, you get an energetic and synth-laden Yngwie Malmsteen‘s “Rising Force”, but I’m not familiar with the original, but their take on it blends in with the overall sound and quality of an impressive debut album, and one of Rottweiller’s better efforts.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments