In recent years, symphonic female-fronted metal has been going through a difficult period. With far fewer bands emerging compared to the past and the audience’s attention shifting elsewhere, the genre is struggling to maintain its former momentum. This is why the arrival of Nocturnal Eternity on the international scene is such welcome news! As we can tell from their debut album, “Eternity”, Nocturnal Eternity are a very interesting, talented, and inspired new band with plenty to offer. “Eternity” is a very good record, packed with beautiful songs that will more than satisfy fans of the genre. Here we find everything we look for in a symphonic metal album: soaring vocals, fantastic guitar work featuring catchy riffs and enjoyable solos, beautiful keyboards, majestic arrangements, and melodies of great beauty. Nocturnal Eternity are certainly not reinventing symphonic metal. They take the best elements from their favourite bands (Nightwish, Epica, After Forever) and use them to create their own songs, without claiming any originality or pretending to be pioneers. What really matters, though, is the music and its beauty, nothing more and nothing less. In this way, the Romanian band wins the listener over with its honesty. As you listen to “Eternity”, you can tell that its creators genuinely love what they do and, most importantly, that they do it well! Nocturnal Eternity’s debut album brings back memories of the good old days and puts the band’s name on the map of symphonic female-fronted metal. Now it’s up to them to take things even further with their next album!
♦ 8/10
Dimitris Zacharopoulos
