Eternal Tear
Embrion (CD Demo) 2001 No label
To me, 'Embrion' is a much more engaging release than the follow up '..Inside'. The first thought that raced through my head when the album started was: Anathema. And indeed this is true as the influences from the Peaceville Three are extremely evident throughout the eight tracks. Unlike the follow up however, here the influences are just influences, and Eternal Tear manages to turn them into their own identifiable sound without sounding too much like a clone band. The album as a whole, is a lot more fast paced than '...Inside', which makes for a more engaging listen. As I said on the other review, this band is best when playing with a bit of speed and momentum behind them, and whilst 'Embrion' has its slow moments, the overall pace really helps. After a short intro the disc launches into 'A Dialogue With...' which despite not being mind-blowing, is a good solid slab of death/doom metal, which launches into 'Nad Groben', easily the best track on the album. The pained, clean and drawn out vocals on the raging background paint a very good contrast, and are supported at times by buried growling and screaming which are lost in the swirling tidal wave of sound. It works really well and I'll have to track down their latest MCD (released after '..Inside'), based solely on the strength of this track. I don't want to needlessly stretch out the rest of this review by describing every track. However, I will say that the rest of them range from very solid, though nothing new, to classic level, as they weave their own influences with the modern doom metal pioneers, including some strange instrumentation and even epic elements. If there was a single downfall to this album, it would probably be in some of the clean vocals, which at times sound way too forced for my liking. On the other hand, the growls are top notch, embodying a lot of emotion, something quite rare in metal. What else can I say? Excellent release. Skip '...Inside' in favour of 'Embrion', which should be in every doom lovers collection.	1. Intro 2. A Dialogue With... 3. Nad Groben 4. Thorn Of Sadness 5. Klamstwo 6. Vale Of Tears 7. Wodospad Smutnychlez 8. Arthut Vacano Approx. 46 minutes
Reviewed by: Scott Wickens
...Inside (CD) 2002 Apocalypse Records
Eternal Tear are one of those bands that you could have sworn you heard before. Whilst I really enjoyed their demo 'Embrion', I have a hard time listening to this one. It just sounds too much like Anathema, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. What's worse, they don't seem to add anything to this particular style, leaving me with an album that is almost tedious to sit through. Sure, they play what they play very well, but it's just too derivative. I was listening to this album earlier and thought it was nearly over, I checked to see where I was on the record. The first track 'She Said...' hadn't even finished yet. You know it's a bad sign whenever the first song bores you that much. So instead I put on Swans' 'Children Of God'. But to be fair, I had to give it another listen or three... ...Luckily for me, this album does have a few redeeming moments, the first being the very short track "Beznaoziejny Sen", a very short piece with clean singing and very deep spoken word, backed with keys, which seems to work really well. Granted, it has nothing to do with doom-metal, but I still like it. The following track really picks up the pace, literally, and starts off very fast, melodic death metal style. This is where the band really shines for me, on this album anyway. It is when they slow down into doom, that they start to get closer and closer to the Peaceville Three, but when playing in this style they sound really unique, or that could be due to my complete lack of knowledge in this genre. Either way, 'Bitch' is a killer track. The other killer track on this record is the title track, especially towards the end, with those awesome guitar hooks, that grab me every time. Excellent stuff. There isn't really much more I want to say about this release. Maybe it was just a weak link between the demo and the follow up 'Nad Grobem', I'm not sure. In all, my main beef is with the lack of originality that plagues most of the forty-five minute duration, which really irritates me. That said, there is a couple of diamonds in the rough.	1. She Said... 2. Challenge 3. Beznaoziejny Sen 4. Bitch 5. Coma 6. I Burn The Angels 7. ....Inside 8. Deep Water 9. The Everlasting Requiem For My Lonely Approx. 43 minutes
Reviewed by: Scott Wickens