The Incurable Tragedy

Into Eternity was an entirely unknown band to me before I saw them warm up the show for Iced Earth just a month ago in Worcester, MA. I was highly impressed by their technical prowess and mixture of the melodic with the demandingly brutal. For somewhat of a depiction of their sound, I’d like to refer back to the first paragraph of Kayla’s review of the The Scattering Of Ashes-album on our website, as I can’t put it much better. The very first thing about the individuals in the band that must be brought up is singer Stu Block. The guy has an astonishing range in his command from wicked snarls and hoarse growling to very accomplished clean vocals and a Halford-worthy wail that could shatter the proverbial glass in any building. Guitarist Tim Roth doubling up on clean vocals does a very good job too. Speaking of Roth and his partner Justin Bender, the riffs and solos on this record smoke more and harder than the hippie masses at Burning Man. Any bedroom virtuoso would have nightmares side by side with sweet dreams of this stuff, as it is simultaneously so challenging yet catchy. The rhythm section of Troy Bleich on bass and Steve Bolognese on drums doesn’t shy from the spotlight either as the tempos change, twist and turn every so often with deadly precision. The song writing is very versatile throughout the record. The acoustic intro Prelude To Woe leads into the manically thrashing Tides Of Blood with widdling and double bass pounding to spare. Other aggressive, quick stand-outs include probably my favourite of the bunch, Diagnosis Terminal and the deceiving duo of A Black Light Ending and One Funeral Hymn For Three, that start off with a simple guitar line but morph into pure oodles of crushing! The title track, spread out across the album into three parts, shows a more sombre, melancholic side of the band with piano and more acoustics. It needs to be said that no matter the mood and style, almost every song has hooks flying all over and catchy vocal melodies for the needs of several less appealing bands. The production job on the album is very good, despite maybe a personal feel for a little more bass into the mix. For a band that I had not even heard or read about a little over a month ago, Into Eternity has definitely grown on me in very little time. I need to get more of their earlier works to make comparisons, but if they are even half as good as The Incurable Tragedy, I would not hesitate in buyin ‘em all. Extremely high-quality American metal! *addition* Hurraah for journalistic incompetence in its purest form! Into Eternity is of course high-quality Canadian metal. Let the original fumble be seen anyhow as an example for future reviewers on how to NOT do things:) *end addition*