Vehemency It doesn’t take many seconds to realize what band Eternum reminds of right after putting An Ode to Our Fallen, their debut album, on. This music could have been pretty much released under the name Drowning the Light because the differences are almost nonexistent. Perhaps thematically these two bands slightly differ: while Drowning the Light has still more Satanic and evil approach, Eternum focuses more on the reverence and pride of ancient times. But the difference is tenuous, really.

An Ode to Our Fallen includes thirteen tracks of which some are acoustic interludes, thus the album is structure-wise reminiscent of Drowning the Light’s latest full-length An Alignment of Dead Stars. The music is reverb-filled melancholic black metal: sorrowful atmosphere surrounds everything. Azgorh’s shrieks are fitting, and every now and then you can hear clean vocals (”The Pain Is Passed On... and Never Forgotten...” and ”The Alliance of Our Lost Countrymen”, for example). Samples of medieval battles are present also.

Luckily the songs aren’t stretched too much: only one track almost reaches the 6-minute mark. This ensures that An Ode to Our Fallen doesn’t sound prolonged, instead, it is a well-balanced whole that is a pleasure to my ears. Atmosphere is they keyword and Eternum succeeds in creating one. The black metal tracks provide themes of pride and battle while the acoustic interludes are times to just lay for a while in nature and its battlegrounds.

While nothing groundbreaking, An Ode to Our Fallen is still a very good album. All the guitar riffs are enough inspired and I can’t find any too mediocre moments from the 44-minute package. Definitely worth of checking out if you’re into Drowning the Light too.