The Eternal – Celestial Review By Steel Druhm

Australian Gothic doom act The Eternal came into my life with their 2018 opus Waiting for the Endless Dawn and caused me much consternation. I loved their depressive Paradise Lost / Sentenced / Katatonia style, but struggled with the sheer length of the compositions, which ranged from 10 minutes upward to 20. I underscored the album despite some amazing material due to its sheer size, and I regret that still. 2024s Skinwalker saw them tone down the running times somewhat, and it was another glum victory with huge moments of sadboi glory. Now, The Eternal drop a mini-album/EP named Celestial, and lo and behold, it’s economical in size and scope.1 You get 4 new tracks, a remix from their sophomore release, and one short intro.2 It’s not much on paper, but it hits way above its weight and again proves these Aussie doomers have something special going on that every doom fan needs to be aware of.

After a throwaway intro, “Celestial Veil” comes in to mop the floor with your emotions with a vulgar display of poignant Gothic doom. It has strong similarities to the classic Black Sun Aeon and Dawn of Solace playbook of Tuomas Saukkonen, with weepy guitar lines and plaintive clean singing designed to fill your heart with grief. The chorus is so perfect and gripping that you can’t unhear it after one exposure. And the most amazing part? It’s relatively short at just over 6 minutes! “It All Ends” is even shorter and carries the torch of despondency with another downcast paean to misery that’s emotive, morbid, and catchy, with a killer chorus designed to stick like a prison shank.

The hits keep coming on “Bleeding into Light,” which milks the band’s streamlined template for all its worth. It’s simple but uber-memorable, part Goth rock and part doom. It works a charm, and it’s so easy to listen to as it hollows out your soul. The big surprise comes with “Casting Down Shadows,” where the band takes their core approach and layers it with epical Middle Eastern symphonics to arrive at something grandiose like a doom version of Led Zeppelin’s immortal “Kashmir.” It creates a strange hypnotic effect, and you lose yourself in the haze of time and space. It’s a really interesting song and shows a side of The Eternal that I want to hear more of. Things round out with “Everlasting MMXXVI,” a remix of a track off their 2004 Sleep of Reason album. It works here, and though the overall style is more stripped-down and Goth rock-based. These shorter style cuts remind me of the early stuff from Deathwhite, and that’s a good thing.

The Eternal know how to nail their chosen style to the wall, giving the Gothic/melodoom fan everything they could want. Mark Kelson’s vocals are perfect for this kind of dour doom, and he sells negative emotions by the truckload without having to strain or contort his voice to get the point across. His sullen crooning is beguiling, and when he steps the urgency up, things really pop. Kelson and Richie Poate are a potent guitar tandem, often keeping things minimalist while crafting classic Goth/melodoom harmonies that remind of what Greg Macintosh (Paradise Lost) does so well. Their playing is the mortuary drape that covers everything in cold hopelessness. This isn’t the most flashy of bands musically, but they don’t need to be to ensnare and bewitch you.

In my review for Skinwalker, I wrote, “If they ever learn to resist their fatter angels, they’ll drop a magnum opus that will shake the heavens.” Here we find The Eternal associating with angels on Ozempic, and the results are impressive indeed. I’m anxious to see if Celestial is indicative of where the band is heading. I’m fully on board if that’s the case, and if not, I can deal with the zaftig angels too. I’m easy when the doom is this sexy.



Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix
Websites: the-eternal.com | facebook.com/theeternal | instagram.com/theeternalofficial
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026

#2026 #35 #AustralianMetal #BlackSunAeon #Celestial #DawnOfSolace #Deathwhite #Jan26 #Katatonia #ParadiseLost #ReigningPhoenixMusic #Review #Reviews #Semtenced #Skinwalker #TheEternal #WaitingForTheEndlessDawn

The Eternal – Skinwalker Review

By Steel Druhm

In 2018, Aussie Gothic doom act The Eternal presented me with one of my most challenging trials as a music reviewer. Waiting for the Endless Dawn was a sprawling, meandering monster of an album running well over an hour, but the songs and morose atmosphere had a lot going for them. I agonized over whether the sheer length undercut the quality writing and in the end, I awarded it a 3.0. While I still stand by the criticisms I leveled, the album continued to infect my brain over the years and I realize I underrated it. Jump forward 5 years and The Eternal are back with another hour-plus dose of doom and gloom, posing all the same questions I battled with in 2018. Is seventh album Skinwalker well crafted enough to make an hour of mopey gloom palatable and digestible in one sitting or have they once again given the listener too much of a depressing thing? Getting Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis to provide guest death roars certainly works in their favor, but hard questions remain to test Steel‘s metal.

If you heard Waiting for the Endless Dawn, 10-plus minute opener “Abandoned by Hope” will feel very familiar. It’s a massive Goth doom piece littered with influences ranging from Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Tiamat, with heavy riffs and weepy flourishes paving the way for Mark Kelson’s soft, plaintive vocals. He’s the rare vocalist capable of sounding vulnerable and heartbroken but also ominous and creepy like Tiamat’s Johan Edlund. Tomi Joutsen’s deep death roars are sprinkled in as accents and work well offsetting Kelson’s glum crooning. The vocal hooks are ever-present and the song is unnaturally addictive, showcasing smart peaks and valleys and glossy, sticky guitar work. Is it too long? Absolutely. 7-8 minutes would have sufficed, but The Eternal go big and won’t go home. In sharp contrast, “Deathlike Silence” is a concise goth rocking gem with a sweet, earwormy chorus. It sounds like prime Lacrimas Profundere meets One Second era Paradise Lost and it gets in your head fast and sets up a successful bait shop. “Under the Black” works equally well, with touches of Viva Emptiness era Katatonia blending with Ghost and H.I.M. slickness, and the use of post-metal aesthetics adds weight and depth. “When the Fire Dies” may be one of my favorite Goth doom songs of the past few years, with the post elements again paying big dividends by extending the power of the frail mope rock.

Then come the patented doom marathon The Eternal feel compelled to deliver. “The Iconoclast” is 10 minutes and feels 12, but somehow it still works and forces you to make a grudging peace with its bloated excess. These guys possess a shrewd sense of the dramatic and understand the theatrical aspects of Goth doom. The way the song slowly builds suspense before the cathartic release is masterful. Mark Kelson is the downtrodden Ring Master of the ceremonies, guiding you from attraction to attraction with smart vocal placement and once again, Tomi’s death eruptions are the icing on the grave cake. There are segments here that remind of Ava Inferi’s stellar Onyx opus and there’s a fuck-ton of forlorn grief energy to be had despite the overstuffed package. Could it be 2-3 minutes shorter? Could Doc Grier be nicer? Both are stupid questions. Things close with another study in excess, 9-plus minute “Shattered Remains,” and yet again The Eternal use sage songcraft to rescue the freighter from the rocky shoals. The music is just heavy enough to satisfy and Kelson does his sadboi thing with grace and aplomb as Tomi leaps in and out dropping the death hammer. The chorus is instantly memorable and evocative, sure to harsh your mellow, and send you to the weepery. With no songs feeling uninspired, The Eternal again deliver an hour-plus of music you can wade through and still want more of despite the extra padding. No small feat that.

This is Mark Kelson’s show and the man delivers a vocal tour de force of Gothy unhappiness. His voice is perfectly-suited to the style and his ability to move from ominous baritone to higher register crooning conveys the rise and fall of emotion well. Richie Poate and Kelson are a formidable guitar tandem, adept at weaving heavy doom riffs with uber-sad trilling and weepy noodling. The icy post-metal aspects are well executed and highly effective in timing and placement. Tomi Joutsen is used sparingly but effectively to punch the heaviness upward. He’s not on every song so things never feel formulaic or forced. This a band that knows this genre inside out and knows how to pluck the heartstrings long and hard.

Skinwalker is 65 minutes of high-class depression bottled by professionals and hawked by grungy snake oil salesmen. The Eternal refuse to downsize and will not be rushed. If you have the patience though, they have the fresh Goth goods. If they ever learn to resist their fatter angels, they’ll drop a magnum opus that will shake the heavens. Until that day, Skinwalker will do just fine.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix
Websites: the-eternal.com | facebook.com/theeternal | instagram.com/theeternalofficial
Releases Worldwide: June 28th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AustralianMetal #AvaInferi #DoomMetal #GothicMetal #Jun24 #Katatonia #LacrimasProfundere #ParadiseLost #ReigningPhoenixRecords #Review #Reviews #Skinwalker #TheEternal #Tiamat #WaitingForTheEndlessDawn