Rob Rock
Eyes Of Eternity
6.9
First impressions can be a dangerous thing. If I had gone by my first impression of this album, Rob Rock’s Eyes of Eternity, I would’ve dismissed it as a generic power metal album, worthy of maybe a listen and then a trip to the vault. Luckily, as a reviewer, and contrary to popular belief, one must listen to an entire album before passing judgement! Thank god for reviewer’s ethics, because I would’ve missed this one entirely. Granted, the first two tracks are boring. It’s as simple as that. There’s really nothing inspired about them, they’re generic as hell. While there’s nothing BAD about them, there’s also nothing special. This is why I had the first impression that I did. Simple riffs and average vocal lines made for an unimpressive start. The third and title track is where things start to pick up. It made me want to sing along with the chorus, so at least there was some creativity being shown. “The Everlasting” is where things get truly interesting. It starts off with some ominous battle-type drums and an eerie guitar line. Then some heavily distorted guitars come in, followed by a truly excellent riff and great vocals. Why they didn’t take this direction from the get-go is beyond me, because it’s miles better than the beginning! The guitar tone is heavier, the vocals are less generic, everything is improved by track 4. “Rage of Creation” is another good track. The guitar line sounds more like Grave Digger than anything else. The vocals, while decidedly 80s sounding, are still good. It reminds me of the song “Stand Up” by Steel Dragon, the fake band from the movie “Rock Star”. “Conqueror’s Hymn” starts off with some ULTRA heavy guitars, the tone of which sound almost like Impaled or something of that nature. Of course it quickly changes, but it’s one of the nuances of the album that set it apart from the rest. Considering what I had originally thought this album was going to be, there were plenty of nice surprises. After this track though, the album sort of returns to mediocrity, leaving me in disappointment. While the album as a whole isn’t the best thing ever, there were still a few standout tracks that are well worth listening to. This album will probably end up slipping from my mind in the long run, unfortunately. The two or three great tracks don’t outwieght the mediocre ones. This one is an album for genre fans only, methinks.
The Everlasting - Cool catchy riff, sounds “kingly” Conqueror’s Hymn - Heavy ass guitars surprised me
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