Customer Reviews

Scattering of Ashes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

INTO ETERNITY - Scattering of Ashes

-

Canada's Into Eternity have undoubtedly released one of the finest Metal albums of 2006. `Scattering of Ashes' is eleven songs which delicately blend, Power, Thrash, Melodic and Death Metal with technically, progressive proficiency.

Guitarist Tim Roth is musical mastermind... his eclectic, melodic guitar playing is as good as ever on this release, although not quite as flashy as on BiO, it seems much better grounded. Troy Bleich bass playing, when heard is fantastic, though a bit buried in the background, it provides a firm backdrop for Roth's guitar playing. Studio drummer, Jim Austin, is now not only their studio man but also a touring drummer. His drum work is incredibly precise and drives each song forward. The new edition to the band is vocalist Stu Block. His range, like former vocalist Chris Krall, is wide-ranging to say the least, from Halford-esc, uncharted wails to vicious death grunts and everything in between. (And I do mean everything)

Into Eternity made some waves in the underground with their previous album, Buried in Oblivion (2004) but with the release of their latest album and a spot on Dave Mustaine's `GIGANTOUR', IE are likely heading for greatness. Scattering of Ashes is easily on Par and may over time even surpass their previous greatness.

Favorite Songs: Out, A Past Beyond Memory, Pain Through Breathing, and Paralyzed.

-5 Stars

IF YOU LIKED, AGREED OR APPRECIATED THIS. PLEASE CLICK YES FOR:

"Was this review helpful?"

I don't usually write reviews, but I'm getting a bit bothered by the criticism of Stu Block's classic metal vocals. Most of the reviews on this page portray his epic wailing as something to be "tolerated", in order to enjoy an otherwise excellent metal record. I, however, argue that his awesome singing CONTRIBUTES to the awesomeness of the record. Stu holds his own against contemporary power-metal standard barers like Tobias Sammut and Hansi Kursch, and might even compete with the greats like Tate, Dickinson, and Halford. He screams with the best of them, possesses great pitch, exhibits powerful emotion, and can spit out one helluva melodic hook. His growling, although less thrilling than the singing, is quite adequate. The riffage is also quite remarkable. As you were listening to the last 3 In Flames records, it perhaps occured to you "where did all the harmonized leads go?". Well, it would seem the answer is right here, baby.

This is definetely a contender for the best of the year, along with the new Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, and Deicide releases.

Take the best of black metal, the best of death metal, the best of power metal, mash it all together with a touch of progression and you get an artful blend of aggression and melody that is Into Eternity's "The Scattering of Ashes." A solid chunk of music that builds on the foundation of what is their own sound. From start to finish, this album never stops to give the listener a chance to comprehend what their ears have experienced.

The only negative thing about the album is the design and layout. It is unoriginal and boring for such a catchy and original piece of music.

Into Eternity has created a work of art that has put them in a league all their own. A must for one searching for music we all know and love in a whole new way.

One of my favorite new bands whose entire discography (which I own) parallels the greatest achievements in classical music in excellence, have managed to resurrect both Death and Metallica from their respective graves (although both were dead on a different level). In fact, with "SOTE" IE deserves that "new Death" moniker, so richly bestowed upon them almost unanimously by critics everywhere, not only in metal...In a lot of respects as sensational as Mastodon, though not nearly as original or groundbreaking. The key to IE's brilliance is not so much in originality, for granted we have all heard it before, but at the proficiency with which they marry seemingly disparate styles of metal and music in general while NEVER sacrificing an ounce of brutality. Though highly melodic, last year's offering of IE is both their most crushingly savage and most creative to date. One of the best and the strongest bands in metal today, a proof that metal is still far from its decline...My personal number 4 on 2006 metal's finest, beats even Scar Symmetry (though by a narrow margin)...

The new edition (vocalist Stu Block) has killed the perfect vocal line-up w/ his ridiculous, overkilled "80's power metal" screams. It just doesn't fit & it ruins the few songs w/ potential on this release, which is a far cry from the last one anyway. There's nowhere near as much melody in the music & pitifully few vocal harmonies, further widening the gap from Oblivion. I keep listening ... hoping it'll grow on me & I'll somehow eventually get past the new festering puss-sore, nails-on-a-chalkboard style vocals, but it just ain't hap'nin.

Fortunately for the band tho, it would seem I'm the odd man out b/c all these other reviews seem to be raving. I sincerely hope no one else is as disappointed as I am. These guys have so much more talent & ability than comes thru on this cd. Better luck next time fellas.

The songwriting, execution, ingenuity, power and ferocity of Into Eternity are unmatched in today's music scene. They are simply the best metal band in the world and this release solidifies it. The descriptors of prog/death/power don't nearly do them justice. They are all those things and yet they are utterly unique, sounding like nobody else. No other bands would even dare the Yes-esque vocal harmonies on top of virtuostic arpeggios and the next second have several death growls in front of shredding thrash riffs and blastbeats. But the most stunning part it is that all FLOWS TOGETHER. The catchiness of the songs are undeniable - they will play in your head over and over again long after you last heard them. The Scattering of Ashes - to my ears, what I like - is possibly the perfect metal album. You MUST own it.

I really love Into Eternity's Dead Or Dreaming, and Buried Into Oblivion which was a great follow up with a thicker juicier production and even more great chorus's. Although IE have always been accused of overplaying and having silly chorus's because of mixing death metal with "power metal" i have always stuck by there side when it comes to listening objectively. Well on this album the music is great maybe a bit TO much, the changing of musicians as they have done can really effect a band and the outcome of there music, in this case its just not tight and doesnt seem as relaxed and well thought out as before, in other words to forced. Also the integration of the new screaming "Rob Halfordish" vocalist just does NOT fit at all with the rest of the chaos going on. The drummer who is great over does it quite a bit to where you really can't sit and just go along with any of the songs. Also the new chorus's as i said before are subpar and just sound like they were overkilled while trying to come up with new ideas. I do give a marginal 3 stars though for extreme musicianship and there is definately no lack of energy here. I just hope on the next album they sit back and relax a bit and concentrate on writing instead of overpowering the music with overplaying.

I agree in the most part with the other reviewers: bass is a little low on the recording, kickers not exactly deep enough. However, I disagree on the technical aspects. To me this is the most technical offer from Into Eternity yet. The first few listens through and the music seems a little less tight and random compared to BiO. A few more listens and you realize how technically amazing the drums and guitars are, but didn't notice it at first because everything is sooooo fast...

This band is at the verge of greatness, but need to put in a few epic prog metal 10 minute songs. If you can deal with the 80's style of big hair wails every so often, then it would be hard not to like this album.

I love Stu Block's vocals. To me, his vocals are the icing on the cake. All style's of metal meshed together, with all styles of vocals meshed together. I love the 80's vocals one reviewer referred to. Falsetto's are a vocal style many metal bands do not do, and I like it as long as the music is heavy. Ihsahn, Nevermore and King Diamond are the only other good metal bands that do it, but do it very little. Give Into Eternity a listen! Seen em live, and they are quite a sight. But just like all Canadians, they are a little weird. LOL. Joking

Into Eternity is an interesting blend of sub-genres in metal. They combine power metal, melodic death metal, progressive death metal, even some traces of technical metal and melodic black metal; at least that what it sounds like to me ears. Now I'm relatively new to Into Eternity so I can't really compare it to any of their other albums, but to me "The Scattering of Ashes" is an all-around excellent metal album.

What I love about this album is that it has such a unique sound and combines a few different styles but is still accessible to metal fans. I literally just showed my friend this band a few hours ago, and he's mostly into more American metal bands, but he instantly liked Into Eternity a lot.

Stu Block is the new vocalist for the band as I heard, and to my ears he does a FANTASTIC job in his role. I've heard lots of different metal vocalist, but Stu is one of the very few, if the only one to the extent of my knowledge, that can literally go from a glass-shattering falsetto howl to a distorted death metal growl, a sinister black metal rasp to an incredibly beautiful clean voice in God knows how many octaves.

The rest of the band does a stunning job. Throughout the album, we go from incredible acoustic guitar passages to sweep-picking solos, brutal riffs, power-metal licks and melodies, the whole nine yards. The bass guitar is also quite present on the album, a great positive considering a lot of metal bands tend to have a lacking bass sound. The drummer is something else, too! Some very good fills and some of the fastest double-bass this side of Derek Roddy.

"Severe Emotional Distress" combines brutal and intensely fast verses, especially the double-bass drums, with melodic choruses and shredding throughout. In the verses, Stu goes from a black metal shriek to a beautiful clean singing style, literally turning on a dime between every few verses, it's quite amazing. "Timeless Winter" showcases the band going into a real black metal-influenced sound, with Stu mostly using a low, gutteral voice, before going into an incredibly high-pitched falsetto scream every now and then. "Paralyzed" features some intense blast beat drumming, amazing shredding and sweep picking in the beginning, and Stu using both gutteral death vocals and an almost operatic sort of singing (Can you say King Diamond?) But my favorite track by far is "Surrounded By Night". The opening features Spanish-sounding acoustic guitars and some of the most godlike vocals done by Stu on the entire album. The song then kicks in with the bass and drums and we go into a ballad more, before the sweep-picking madness and double-bass insanity come in. The whole sound has an epic sound, before the low-end bass guitar and Stu's amazing vocal harmonies close it out.

These songs, among all the others, make this album one of the best metal albums I've listened to in a while. For those interested in a band that takes a little bit from several different styles of metal and combines it into something both brutal and beautiful, this is an excellent choice. I can see basically any fan of heavy music liking this album, so be sure to find it soon! Thanks for the time, and peace.