ETERNAL BLUE review - A fantastic debut from a band I hope to listen to for decades

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)

Eternal Blue is a 2021 djenty metalcore album by Canadian band Spiritbox. With its founding members having come from the metalcore band Iwrestledabearonce, there was more cause for folks to get hyped over this album than I had initially understood when I saw clickbaity metal sites saying that this was going to be like the first big metal album of this decade. See, I am a metalcore skeptic, because it seems every damn time I hear someone say how there's this great new metalcore band or album, I go listen to a couple of their biggest songs to see if I want to commit to an album, and then I end up not committing to the album. Look, metalcore is not a genre that is entirely consisting of bands such as Attila or Emmure--you've got classic bands like Converge, some solid meat & potatoes metalcore bands like Killswitch Engage or While She Sleeps, and you've got more recent metalcore inspired acts such as Loathe, Code Orange, or Black Dresses that kick ass--but there's a good reason why many metalheads tend to write this genre off. A lot of this genre is whiny garbage by sexist dweebazoids who think anyone wants to listen to a song crying about "whores" not hopping on their "dicks" in 2021, and the worst metalcore is outright fascist (though not as prevalent as in black metal). Then there's the fact that this album is so heavy on djent, which I am neutral on. It's not a genre I've listened to enough, but I know when I hear something djenty that I like. But here's the thing--I was cautiously excited about this LP because I fucking loved pretty much every single, to one extent or another. I got so many spins out of the serene yet groovy "Secret Garden", the high-octane rager that is "Holy Roller", and "Hurt You" which grew on me thanks to its cursed, gorgeous mix. (I got very few re-spins out of "Constance", however, because I can't cry that often.) So when I came into the album, I was genuinely more pumped than I'd normally allow myself to be when it comes to anything in the orbit of metalcore. And you know what? This record delivered exactly what I wanted: a phenomenal album that makes me feel like I got in at the ground floor of a band that I hope to listen to for the next decades.

Now that I've established my lack of expertise in djent, allow me to tell you what I like to see in what djent I've dipped my toes into thus far: this. This is what I want. Dynamic, complex performances that make me feel like a dumbass for failing to comprehend how music sounds like this. But what I love about the performances most--and the album as a whole--is its multi-dimensionality. You get these multi-phased tracks which keep things consistently interesting from front to back, because they never stick to one tone or vibe. Mike Stringer (guitarist), Bill Crook (bassist), and Zev Rose (drummer) all slay with some pummeling solos, but you also get some wonderfully laid-back passages rich with atmosphere on cuts such as the title track or "Constance". Meanwhile, at its best, the production is slick and knows when to step back, instead of touching things up too much. In its worst moments, the production feels so immense that it gets in the way of enjoying the performances. This isn't so much a problem with the instrumentals, but it's a damn shame when the production feels like it's smothering the vocals.

If you've seen me talk about Spiritbox before, you'll know that I cannot say how much Courtney LaPlante's singing stuns me. Whether she's bringing out her outstanding clean vocals or letting her formidable growls off the leash, I am consistently blown away. She's good enough with her cleans to give some symphonic metal acts a run for their money when it comes to their core appeal of "kickass guitars + beautiful vocals" (though she's clearly not as operatic as, say, Nightwish, so don't let that comparison get too crazy). Her voice is also just terrific, and in the album's finest moments works in tandem with the instrumentals the rest of the band lays down to give this cosmic, ethereal feel of a fading star that's singing just to you. It's great. But now I've gotta bag on the production a little. A good example of what I'm talking about where it feels over-produced would be the songs "Circle With Me" (a fan favorite that I also enjoy a lot, but the vocal processing on Courtney's singing to me feels unnatural and distracting) and the title track (again, I'm not fond of how touched up her singing comes across). Typically, when producers have singers this good, they tend to stand back and let the vocalist do their thing, unless you've got something conceptual which justifies otherwise. Looking at some great singers from some other genres, such as Yola (easily my favorite singer alive right now, FWIW), Adele, and Ariana Grande, who all bring lots of technical ability and personality--much like Courtney does here (though without question in their own ways, each with vastly different styles from her)--their voices mostly feel untouched. They obviously aren't--that's not how production works--but that's how it sounds to the end listener. One vocalist that I adore and does tend to have his voice processed quite a lot is Chino Moreno of Deftones, who is one of metal's greatest singers, and I tend to find the production for Deftones much more tasteful as it is done in service of making things sound all the more ferocious--something that I can't say the same of for Eternal Blue's over-production. I'm sure there are going to be folks who don't mind these effects as much as I do, and it's not like this ever ruins a song completely for me, but it's enough of an issue to be something I cannot honestly ignore in a conclusive review.

Okay, so, some other hugely important things. I think the track sequencing here is great, balancing the diabolical and the heavenly in a way that is constantly engaging and leaves me satisfied by the end. "Constance" is a no-brainer for a closer, and having the dual biggest, fist-pumping beasts of the tracklist ("Silk in the Strings" and then "Holy Roller"?!) back to back was so goddamned cathartic. Another critique I have that isn't a huge deal is that "We Live in a Strange World" is a little uninteresting at first blush. I think that having a more toned down kick-off to a song is perfectly fine, but I think the opening of "We Live in a Strange World" weakens the album's momentum until it really picks back up again when the heavier instrumentals barrel in. As for the lyrics, I found them to be very interesting to read (when they were less intelligible) and that they are wonderfully personal. Seeing as a lot of my qualms with metalcore come from the lyrics, that's naturally a big deal for me.

When all's said and done, I think Eternal Blue is a magical LP that shows how much potential Spiritbox has for future records. Is it my favorite metal album of the year? No, that's still Impermanence. But is it one of my favorite metal albums of the year? Absolutely. It's a tiny shame though, now that this and Wraith's Undo the Chains are out, the only metal album that I'm fiending for right now is Zeal & Ardor's self-titled next year. :P Any who, Eternal Blue gets a 9.5/10 from moi, it's outstanding.

Must-listen

Summary:

Equal parts lush and hellish, Eternal Blue is an adventurous record that is the rare one to have justified its ridiculous hype.