Review of Into Eternity - Buried In Oblivion

The difference between literary fiction and populous novels is that works that are more literary tend to focus on the entire trip more than simply on the destination, which is the primary concern of populous novels. To say that one is inherently better than the other is to send out invitations to a fierce argument, but it’s pretty clear that literary works don’t rely on cheap thrills to take up space until a grand finale. A similar judgment can be placed on music. Albums like Kayo Dot’s recent Choirs of the Eye are obviously the musical equivalent to something more literary, while an album like Into Eternity’s new record Buried in Oblivion is like the latest Dean Koontz novel- a very well done crowd pleaser, but nothing more.

Buried in Oblivion begins with one quickly blown load after another; the first seven songs are all extremely catchy slabs of thrashy and proggy melodic death metal. There’s not a disappointment among them. The lead guitar parts are enough to make me feel bad for even attempting to play, and the rhythm section has improved tremendously since their last album. The final three songs are what appear to be the album's “emotional climax,” or in other words, they’re slower, at times acoustic oriented songs that are led by vocals more than dazzling musicianship. The surprising thing is that even though they strike me as rather contrived, they’re damn good, in fact, just as good as the rest of the album.

Nothing is complaint worthy here. The production is flawless, the musicianship spectacular, and the songwriting strong throughout. Even the cheesy and overbearing clean vocals have a strange sort of appeal to them. The songwriting brings to mind Tourniquet, but with much more death metal influence. The odd time changes, the chunky riffing, stunning leads, and complex drumming are nothing but great.

This is a hugely solid album in all departments. It’s impossible not to have fun listening to it, but there isn’t anything below the surface. That isn’t really a complaint; it’s just that I wouldn’t go so far as to call this an album destined for too much importance. What you see is what you get here, but chances are, what you get is something you’ll be damned glad to have.

Release Details

Into Eternity

Buried In Oblivion

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