The only real reason to review this album is to inform those who don’t already know of Setherial as one of the few "black metal" bands left worth paying attention to (if you still give a fuck, that is). Imagine if Dark Funeral was still good and knew how to write songs and could play twice as fast, and you essentially touch upon Hell Eternal. Surpassing even Lords Of The Nightrealm in wholesale brutality, Alasdor Mysteriis is simply not in the mood to "compromise", with a few new members contributing to a new direction at no cost to the focus. This is kicking and screaming Satan worship at its finest, the kind of album that makes you glad you still listen to this stuff. Lyrics aside, what further seems to separate "brutal" black metal from newer death metal are the murderous emotional characteristics of hating on a darker, global scale overtly incorporated into the image. The aura finds its home with some and repels others, just as it’s set out to do (where the "tough" aspect of newer death metal unintentionally seems to do the same). I encourage any given fan of savage, tenebrous death metal to set aside the testosterone for a few moments and spend a few listens here to appreciate something different. Awaiting is an extensive collection of awesome, hellish riffing, throat ripping vocals and assiduous hyperblasting, closely comparable to Immortal’s Pure Holocaust crossed between newer Marduk. What makes this release special is Setherial’s success in elevating the elements to a faster, heavier level, yet first and foremost always keeping that dark aura alive and right in your face. You’ll have a hard time keeping up, and today that’s saying something. Production via Abyss studio in this instance has aided in a really fitting, powerful sound, basically a strong substitute in the event that you can’t find a meat grinder to stick your head into for a few minutes. Of course, black metal purists shouldn’t be discouraged in the slightest either. Although significantly easier to understand than the supreme atmosphere of Nord, Hell Eternal is equally successful in serving a different purpose, nearing Krisiun and WAR as among the best catharsis I’ve felt in years. I only wish the single note melodies were picked faster to match the drumming (i.e. Suffocation, Mayhem, Abigor), it’s the only tiny thing holding this back from giving as intense a rush as the classics. Nevertheless, the nonstop dose of violence one song after another reaches and pulls the darkness from within as Setherial rises above all other Swedish peers in this style.

Written By: Abbas