BURIED IN OBLIVION

Into Eternity has been a derisive band for me in the past when it comes to exacting judgement upon them. On one hand, they are incredible musicians and have a sound that is distinct enough to call their own. On the other, their songwriting has often passed me as being quite shallow, especially when is taken into account that they are a progressive metal act. Although 'A Scattering Of Ashes' may always be the record held closest to- or at least, least far from- my heart, the bands third album 'Buried In Oblivion' is arguably the greatest statement of their career as a band. Although the same maudlin cheesiness and recycled songwriting is present in this album as well, Into Eternity manages to make the heaviness heavier, melodies brighter, and chaos, well... more chaotic than ever with this one.

Into Eternity's sound is a hectic breed of prog, death, and power metal, coming together to create something complex, heavy, thrashy, technical and... catchy? As much as it may sound counter-intuitive, Into Eternity manages to throw soaring melodies into each chorus that are instantly memorable. Better still, this is at no loss to the complexity of the riffs and instrumentation, which keeps up breakneck speeds and numerical shredding, only letting down for the album's surprisingly emotive acoustic moments. On top of the excellent musicianship that the band sports, there are some very powerful vocals. I find that singing in progressive metal of this technical calibre can tend to distract, rather than to compliment the listening experience, but here, the vocals are erratic and as technically skilled as the instruments. It should be noted that every member of the band does some vocal bit here, so the vocals are constantly throwing something new and unexpected at the listener.

Sadly, the songwriting here is not so unexpected as the exciting way the band presents it. To start, the songwriting is fairly similar in structure to what was head on past albums, like the pathetic 'Dead Or Dreaming' record. Into Eternity's style of songwriting is fairly predictable, and sometimes even feels like a cut-and-paste of unrelated riffs to adhere to a standard song formula, at its worst. 'Buried In Oblivion' is thankfully still a large step above anything the band had done in the past though; the song structures may still feel derivative and simplistic, but the ideas themselves are generally excellent. The band even tries their hand at some more ambitious composition with the 'Buried In Oblivion' and 'Black Sea Of Agony' tie-in, a two track suite that flows perfectly into the other, creating a longer piece that crowns this album wonderfully.

I had heard that 'Buried In Oblivion' was 'a masterpiece', 'mind-blowing', and even 'one of the greatest metal albums of all time'. I cannot see Into Eternity's current formula ever taking them that far, and 'Buried In Oblivion' is no exception. While still feeling a bit amateurish on the side of songwriting, Into Eternity makes huge steps forward here, and even as someone who has rarely been impressed by the band as a whole in the past, 'Buried In Oblivion' is a great album to me.

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