1999 saw the release of Setherial’s third album, 'Hell Eternal,' which reintroduced synthesizers to the band’s sound, although in a much, much scaled-back form in comparison to their earliest effort, 'Nord.' Founder and only original member, Alastor Mysteriis interestingly took up drumming duties at this point, leaving the guitar work to Choronzon and previous vocalist Kraath, also seeing fit to add new members Sasrot on bass and Wrath (Kristoffer Olivius of Naglfar and Bewitched fame) on vocals. Tommy Tagtgren produced the album alongside members of the band in The Abyss, and his influence is most obvious in the chunky, bombastic drums. In fact, unless you turn the bass down quite a bit, all you’re really going to hear is random shrieks over thundering double kicks and muddy bass lines, however fix this flaw with some careful manipulation of them EQ's and you’ll be treated to some exquisite high-speed tremolo picking and killer riffage!
'Hell Eternal' is one of Setherial’s strongest tracks, opening with a chilling, superfast guitar melody against Nord-ish soft keys before climaxing into an onslaught of Satanic violence. 'Guardians of the Gates of Flame' brings back memories of Lords of the Nightrealm with it’s relentless blast-beating, but careful listening will reveal some melodic and technical guitar lines under all that supersonic fuzz, likewise, 'Shadows Of The Throne' has an utterly creepy riff near the ending that may makes some hairs stand on end. Unfortunately, the music as a whole still tends to lean in the 'Norsecore' direction with only sporadic bursts of neat stuff, leading to eventual unwanted snoozing, though the whole things said and done in just forty minutes.
'Hell Eternal' is not revolutionary, nor is it terribly innovative, but it is a decent effort from this often underrated band.
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