Hailing from Brazil, Crimson Tower, presents us with their debut offering Aeternal Abyss. An epic and classic sounding doom metal album that revives the classic sounds of heavy metal. Meaty riffs, punchy drums, and wailing vocals that drip with emotion. The production is also old school, having that vintage raw feeling reminiscent of bands like Pagan Altar, Pentagram, Cirith Ungol, and maybe a slower version of Manilla Road. They truly wear their inspiration on their sleeves here, and they don’t do it a disservice either.
The opening riff of the album is just an easy tell of what to expect. The iconic guitar riffs are just dripping with 70s and 80s heavy metal worship. But there’s something about the style and the song writing in particular that makes it feel very modern. A tinge of anger and a mix of some modern doom fundamentals that really give this a unique and different sound, rather than them sounding like they’re just lifting straight from the past and doing nothing transformative. I feel as though the ballad of the album, She’s Dying Away From Me, is a great example of just that. Its a very heavy track, both the subject and the instrumentation. The riffs are slow and steady, but have this hint of sadness and anger mixed, and the lyrics mourn about a dying sister in a different country than the sister, and he can’t afford to see her in her dying days. They’re performed very well, having this almost occult and tragic sound to it all. I thought it was the best off the album and that track became my personal favorite.
While I did enjoy it a lot, I do have to admit, after multiple listens you begin to notice how it falls a little flat over all. There aren’t many very high peaks or very low lows. The music is just rather mid-paced and doesn’t really want to speed up or really strip it back and let the doom flow slowly. This is definitely more of an album you’d throw into a mixed playlist of doom metal bangers and have it be a little obscure gem that pops up every once and a while. At the end of the day, that’s what I feel like this album really is. A short list of good heavy metal tracks that are easy listening and nothing more.
But I still do think that this band has a lot of potential and what they presented here is a very solid debut album. I’ll for sure be looking forward to what ever else next they have in store in the future. For sure check this out if you’re a fan of classic NWOBHM but interpreted in a modern way. I know I enjoyed this.