Album Review: Final Dose – “Under the Eternal Shadow” (Black Metal/Crust)

Written by Kirk

It’s the week of release as I’m finalizing this review and thought it appropriate to point out that, on the U.S. east coast, we’re having a sudden cold spell. The morning temperatures in Maryland have been in the upper thirties and low forties, which is within ten degrees of freezing. I’ve always associated black metal with winter, and now we’re having a repeat of winter weather just before the new Final Dose album drops. Coincidence? Perhaps….

Be that as it may, Under the Eternal Shadow is far from the icy fare of your average black metal record. Not to play on words, but its release on Wolves of Hades feels appropriate, since this album has teeth. From the opening song, “Eternal Winter,” even the casual black metal enjoyer will know to hold on with both hands. This is going to be a bumpy ride. The haunting synths quickly give way to unrelentingly pummeling crusty black metal that hits in all the right ways. But it’s when the vocalist howls at 1:54 that you know you’re in for it. Like I said, this album has teeth.

One of the first things I noticed about Under the Eternal Shadow is how complex of a record it is. Yeah, sure, it’s a mixture of crust punk and black metal, so I’m not talking about blistering solos that will make your eyes roll back in their sockets like you’re summoning a demon or some overly complex composition that will cause you to close your eyes and nod out for a minute or two. What I am talking about is tempo changes; Final Dose do an excellent job of constantly changing the pace as the album progresses. Just when you’re getting in the groove of a particularly trashy part of a song, they slow it down, making things exciting and unpredictable.

Taking the speed and ferocity of “Eternal Winter” up a notch or two, “Weathered Axe” is sheer brute force. Depending on your preference, it’s either your cue to throw yourself at the mercy of the circle pit or quickly haul ass to the back of the room. Either way, bodies will be flying this way and that when this track gets going. But then we enter “Rite of Spring”, and the tempo slows down before shifting yet again to a frenzy.  Though not as fast-paced and frenetic as the opening of the record, the middle portion is far more complex, utilizing various other elements of the black metal lexicon to further build what truly is a compelling record. There’s a heavy, almost contemplative aspect to “Rite of Spring” that then bleeds into the disturbingly atmospheric “Servant”. If Final Dose’s standard approach to black metal is a bloodthirsty monster chasing you, this is the equivalent of the ghostly specter you can only see when the lights are turned off. Creepy and sinister and ever at the nape of your neck.

As we come to the end of Side A and the beginning of Side B, “Dark Paradise” and “Wretched” are more of your standard black metal tracks, worrying less about tempo changes and creating atmosphere and more about pummeling every inch of your body into submission.  But then “Funeral March” comes in and once again shifts the tone of the record.  Eschewing guitars and drums for synthesizers, we get a sudden dose of dungeon synth to once again cause the hairs on the back of our necks to stand up and for us to nervously look around every corner, afraid something might jump out of the shadows at any moment.

It’s hard to appropriately describe the vibe of “Locked in the Black Dungeon”, but it’s about as close to DSBM that I think Final Dose are likely to ever get. Trading his shrieks and yowls for a tortured, almost yearning cry, the vocalist exudes a sense of tortured longing as the rest of the band continues to pound their instruments into a seething pulp. But that sense of anguish is short lived as “Revenge” kicks down the proverbial door to once again pummel our bodies and eardrums with the same ferocity that Under the Eternal Shadow opened. It’s a no-holds-barred slugfest from beginning to end, creating the perfect bookend for an album that really has been unrelenting. And then we close with “Drag the Light Down,” employing elements of folk music and noise to once again create an atmosphere of menacing brutality as the listener is offered a brief moment of respite to lick their wounds before inevitably pressing play and reliving the punishment once again. Because let’s face it: you know you want to….

THE BOTTOM LINE

We often look at complexity in music as an exercise in how you can show your audience how talented you are. Whether it’s an extravagant guitar solo employing every possible way you can play a 12-string guitar, a drum solo that requires bongos, a giant gong, and a xylophone, or just about anything that goes above and beyond what is expected out of your average musician, complexity in music comes with a certain amount of expectation. But music can be complex without jumping through all these hoops, and perhaps we need to redefine what it is that makes music “complex.” With Under the Eternal Shadow, we have an album that is—on the surface—fairly straightforward. Mixing punk with black metal is far from new, but what Final Dose have done is mix in a slew of other elements within these core elements that make this album so vibrant. And mixing all these elements together into something so compelling is far from simple.