Formed in 2002, this Zagreb based Croatian Modern Metal-driven outfit started out as a foursome comprising singer Filip, guitarist Tjeshimir, bassist Robert, and drummer Oliver. Still looking for their own sound, the band was still in an experimental phase when they recorded their 2003 demo Dreams Are Forever with a flute player and second singer in the line-up (for the recording only).
In came second guitarist Stjepan, which allowed the band to evolve towards their current style of raw powerful but melody-driven guitars supported by a steady bass and pounding drums, and vocals diverging stylistically from Black Metal screams to melancholically dark and out-spokenly Aggro! First recorded proof of this comes with the 2004 recorded mini-album More Than Words Can Tell, and further progress is evidenced by the recording of two songs for a 2005 promo. On the live front the band slowly became a favourite on the festival circuits in both Croatia and the neighboring Slovenia, as well as supporting the likes of Cameran, Darkest Hour, Malkovich, Shai Hulud, The Wage Of Sin and other well-respected international bands on those gigs when said acts happened to play in that part of South-Eastern Europe.
The fivepiece recorded this album during 2007 with recording engineer/ producer Ivan Jacic (funnily, there's a guy by the same name being a bigshot in chess playing, but THIS guy has produced stuff for the likes of Gardens Of Hiroshima, Amok and Senata Fox, and used to play with Nikad...if I got my info right). In October, the guys got support from their country's national independent television station Z1 by sending out footage from anIgutgig. Eventually, British label Mother Should Know got in touch with the band for the release of their Eternities album, and a deal was sealed in late March 2008.
To give you a verbal idea of what these wacky Croatians sound like, they claim to be influenced by the likes of All, Converge, Descendents, Led Zeppelin, Mastodon, Neurosis, Opeth, to name but the most important...and even Johnny Cash! There's definitely an affinity with Hardcore-driven Metal here, and just like Neurosis and Mastodon the band occasionally alternates calmer moments (both musically and vocally) with harsher ones (in which a Blackened scream occasionally comes floating up). Regretfully, the two songs which start off with such a calm opening to explode into a more aggressive ending are not the ones posted at myspace.com/igut. Nevertheless, the 4 songs posted give you a real good idea of the more aggressive side of the band (for more mterial, view the Z1 footage and then click on the vid in the right corner beneath (band as a foursome)! In their own words, Eternities contains songs which combine sorrow, rage, love, hate, passion, trust, betrayal, and their way of perception of all segments of life and death.
In mid December 2007 the band announced the departure of guitarist Tjeshimir. Having encountered several personal problems and obligations which prevented him from giving the band the attention it needed, the band eventually came to a mutual agreement. Luckily singer Filip is also an accomplished guitarist, so the new guitarist is already in place! Although the promo was sent out well in time, several magazines would only get the review out in their late October issues, which meant that concert promotors were hesitant to book the band, and the band's UK tour had to be postponed. Meanwhile however, Terrorizer did include the band on the covermount sampler CD of their September issue, the band was getting favorable revirews from Rock3music.com, Alternative Vision, and Kerrang! (see blogs at the band's MySpace).
For fans of the above mentioned (and with that I mean primarily Mastodon, Converge, Neurosis, Opeth, and more of that ilk) this Croatian band's album will be a welcome addition to their record collection. In fact the band may well become a favourite with many. Personally, I'd like to hold back my enthousiasm somewhat still...I mean, I definitely LIKE what I hear, even lóve it, but before adding this band to my (far too long) list of must-follow/must-have artists, I would need to hear a second album first. So...don't tally lads!
90/100
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