Artist: Eternal Ice
Country: Japan
Label: Elf Eggs
Formats: Cassette EP
Year: 2025
Although Eternal Ice already released a demo tape in autumn of last year, the band didn’t caught my attention yet. But even though that demo was only distributed in extremely few copies, the American Elf Eggs label was there early to catch this Japanese Raw Black Metal band for its upcoming 4-track EP. But, just like ‘Demo 2024’ also this new EP too is only made available in a mere 36 copies. So, this nice little piece of underground Black Metal might not be too easy to pick up, but that shouldn’t stop you for at least giving it a try through a streaming service; Bandcamp and YouTube should be able to supply you with your needs here.
Raw Black Metal from Japan isn’t quite something you stumble upon every day, but the way that Eternal Ice is presenting it to you adds even more to the mystique of the whole experience. Although the riffs and overall song writing offer more than enough to enjoy in itself, it is basically the pretty raw and dense production and the rather loud vocals that bring the magic here. The raspy but non-shrieky vocals are so prominent and powerful that it took a few moments to get used to, but they are, at least to me, the thing that makes ‘Curse In The Sky’ so mightily attractive. It reminds me so much of the many obscure demo tapes that I managed to get my hands on during the very late 90’s and the first years of the thriving 00’s. It almost feel nostalgic in all its ugly beauty.
But, it would definitely do no justice to only state the band’s attraction is based on personal nostalgic feelings. The music on offer, in all its bare boned nakedness, is at least as alluring. Also deeply rooted in the same period of Black Metal, basically the founding years of the Raw Black Metal genre, where simplicity and atmosphere were the reigning elements of the music, Eternal Ice brings a lot bewitching potency to the table. Sometimes harkening back to almost Hellhammer-esque grooves, or going into really melodic splendour, but the most striking are the Heavy Metal riffs. Take a listen to the opening ‘Curse’ for example, the melting together of that Epic Heavy Metal riff in the bridge is really just a undeniable testament of amazing song writing skills. Absolutely a marvellous little EP that evidently deserves a few more physical copies than just 36.
