The Night Eternal reckon they are opening a new chapter here. Cold Velvet is their third album, but their first for Metal Blade Records, and it finds the German band working with producer Michael Zech. A guitarist with black metallers Secrets Of The Moon, Zech is also known for his work with the likes of Triptykon, Sulphur Aeon and The Ruins Of Beverast.
That might suggest something rather more extreme, but Cold Velvet is proudly a rock record – and an exceptional one at that.
“Where This World Ends” exists just on the right side of darkness, somewhere on the line between traditional metal and something more occult. Yet there is an otherworldly quality here too. “Where this world ends, I stand alone,” sings Ricardo Baum, while Robert Richter and Henry Käseberg provide a guitar solo that is absolutely perfect.
“Eurydice (Don’t Look Back)” has some real ’80s vibes, particularly in its whispered hook. Are The Night Eternal ready for the big stages when Billy Idol finally hangs up the spandex? Maybe. Whatever happens, they sound like they are having enormous fun here.
It needs to be said that whatever else these songs might be, they are insanely catchy. “Caught In A Spell” proves the point with its huge chorus and restless energy, while “When The Last Candle Dies” allows the guitarists to have an absolute field day.
“The Veins Of Time” is a riot of melody and movement, but at its heart Cold Velvet is a hard rock record: big, bold and completely unapologetic. That becomes especially clear on “The Watcher Of The Burning World”, where Aleister Präkelt’s drums make everything sound deliberately enormous. Volbeat have filled arenas with this sort of thing for years, and there is no reason The Night Eternal cannot follow them onto much larger stages.
“Shape Of Sorrow” proudly possesses the gallop of classic heavy metal, but the band save their most ambitious moment until last. “Dance On Crimson Ground” is cinematic, bold and expansive, its widescreen approach suiting them perfectly. It feels like a destination as much as an ending, bringing together everything that has made the preceding 40 minutes so compelling.
If this really is the beginning of a new chapter for The Night Eternal, then it is a thriller. Dark without becoming oppressive, melodic without sacrificing its power and filled with hooks that refuse to leave, Cold Velvet is one of the finest records of its type released this year.
Rating: 9/10
