Band:	Aeternam
Album:	Al Qassam
Style:	Melodic death metal, Symphonic death metal, Oriental folk metal
Release date:	March 2020

01. Al Qassam
02. The Bringer Of Rain
03. Lunar Ceremony
04. Ithyphallic Spirits Of Procreation
05. Palmyra Scriptures [ft. Kobi Farhi]
06. Hanan Pacha
07. Celestial Plains
08. Ascension
09. Poena Universi

Aeternam is a symphonic progressive melodic death metal band with oriental music influences from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. They have been successfully destroying the local underground for a long time but probably never achieved the fame that was promised to them back when they emerged in 2010. With early releases such as Disciples of the Unseen and Moongod, they put the bar high at the beginning of their career. Un-deterred, the quatuor got together again to give us the gift of Al Qassam in 2020, which is their fourth album comes 3 years after Ruins of Empire.

Sometimes pictured as halfway between Orphaned Land and Melechesh, and rightfully so, Aeternam shell out their winning recipe of middle-eastern accents framing rhythmic melodic symphonies with a foreground of brutality and a sharp edge. Clearly, the harsh vocals and plethora of incisive guitar riffs provided by Ashraf Loudiy and Maxime Legault are the driving force behind this record. I imagine that for newcomers to Aeternam this will be a nice discovery. For old-timers, it's awesome to see them carry on and not waver one iota.

"Al Qassam" kicks off things in a dynamic fashion and pretty much sets the tone for what you're in for. So yeah, it is the perfect intro to the album. "The Bringer of Rain" reminds us all that they also feature some impressive clean vocals, and that they thrive when melodies get intertwined into a labyrinth of progressive death madness. And just when you start hearing the influence of Orphaned Land on "Lunar Ceremony" and "Ithyphallic Spirits of Procreation", guest starring Kobi Fahri jumps in on the following tune "Palmyra Scriptures" to make your day. "Hanan Pacha" is the perfect crystallization of Aeternam's sound: Ever evolving, symphonic, darkness and light performing a convoluted dance around each other, yet catchy and powerful. Needless to say, the rest of the album is on par with what I just described. My favourite track is the closing number "Poena Universi". I won't tell you why. There, it's your incentive to go listen to at least one song from these guys.

This album, Al Qassam, and this band, Aeternam, are the perfect examples of why you need to widen your musical horizon and sometimes dig deep to find what you are looking for. This is a more mature effort for them. It might lack the freshness of their early albums but makes up for it with the seasoned songwriting and crisper production. So, short and sweet: Go check the hell out of this band if you haven't heard of them yet.