Into Eternity The Scattering of Ashes

Ever heard of a place called Saskatchewan It's in the Prairies, Canada's equivalent of the Midwest in the States. For many, a place they won't be visiting in their lifetime; the middle-of-nowhere. As a born Canadian, I've heard stories over the years suggesting the place has redeeming qualities as well as ass-backwards attributes. It's country living, so we can assume that it's more ass-backwards than redeeming. But one of its most fascinating exports is Century Media recording artists Into Eternity, an almost cartoonish hybrid of early Florida death metal, modern metalcore, and classic harmonies best associated with the late seventies and early eighties. As young and creative as Into Eternity are, they haven't exactly been Century Media's biggest priority in recent years. Their two previous albums, 2002's Dead or Dreaming and 2003's Buried In Oblivion, have gone under most people's radars. The likelihood is that the label couldn't figure out a way to market a band that pits intricate verses and thrash parts reminiscent of Symbolic and Individual Thought Patterns-era Death against high-pitched, retrograde vocal harmonies that bring to mind epic arena favorites Judas Priest, Dio, Boston, and Europe. But as old rock and metal alike are coming back in a big way, fans and labels are starting to take shrill vocals seriously again, which is a great thing, because on The Scattering of Ashes, Into Eternity continues to take their music very seriously. This is the first album album on which Into Eternity, by virtue of choice, time constraint, or something else, have reduced the spotlight on immense melodic choruses, although I'd be hard pressed to find another band still capable of joining together two very distant brands of metal as well as they do on The Scattering of Ashes. The band's familiar and impressively showcased power metal roots have now begun receding in favor of immediate speeds, with captivating melodies still mainstays albeit ones that linger for shorter time spans. On songs like "A Past Beyond Memory" and the rest of the album from "Eternal" on, Into Eternity fall back on an accessible but nonetheless tight melodic death thrash sound, showcasing Tim Roth's impressive fretboard tapping and Jim Austin's impressive footwork and tempo changes. This aggressive, condensed approach to songwriting relieves the band of continuing to fall under the power metal category as they fully intended to since their inception. With stunning vocal harmonies one of their trademarks, Into Eternity is unlikely to drop the traditional influence altogether, but scaling it back as they've done here will definitely help them appeal to a larger audience. The Scattering of Ashes sees Into Eternity a vastly different lineup from that which recorded Buried Into Oblivion. Former Omega Crom vocalist Stu Block replaces founding frontman Chris Krall, bringing with him a suitcase full of operatic and abrasive voices to layer atop Into Eternity's power death songs, and thus effectively deflating any concerns the band would dissolve following Krall's departure. As on prior albums, primary songwriter and guitarist Tim Roth adds vocal versatility to the band's sound, complementing Block's performance with both clean and death vocals of his own. Even bassist Troy Bleich, replacing Scott Krall, gets in on the singing and growling, but Into Eternity do not play the self-indulgent who-has-smaller-balls style that Avantasia (with countless power metal guests) layed to tape on The Metal Opera. Meanwhile, second guitarist Rob Doherty's exit from Into Eternity's ranks earlier this year has created a vacant second guitar position which (as of this review) is still vacant. Judging by their recent performance opening for Megadeth in Montreal however, the band's live prowess has suffered little in the wake of these drastic, and normally terminal, changes. The Andy Sneap mastering job and Mattias Noren's (Evergrey, Blind Guardian) conceptual art give The Scattering of Ashes the stunning presentation it deserves. Bottom Line: Skid Row are still putting out albums on SPV, so if you want pure hair metal, you know where to find it. Into Eternity are pretty far from that isolated, dated genre although rumor might have led you to believe otherwise. What they continue to do on The Scattering of Ashes is incorporate epic vocal harmonies popularized during the arena parking lot era into an essentially modern speed metal frame, but in a much more integrated fashion than on prior albums. As the band continues to evolve, The Scattering of Ashes shows the band self-assured of their ability to write virtually flawless, cutting-edge heavy metal.