Cryptal Darkness Formed in the winter of '93 the band dabbled with various sounds and ideas, but by late '95 the sound was starting to shape up; melodic, dark and emotional, it was not long after this that the band entered the studio to record their debut album Endless Tears. This album laid the path for the classic 1999 album They Whispered You Had Risen, which took their mournful sound to the extreme with songs like "To Blackened Skies I Suffer" and the Gothic nightmare of title track "They Whispered...".

Late 2000 saw the band's last release Chapter II - The Fallen, seen as part two of They Whispered.... The band took their sound even further with the sorrowful "My Eternal Hunger" and the epic "A Dream Of Beauty & Desire Lost".

In late 2002 after growing tensions in the band and due to issues with label ICON records, the band in its then current form decided a fresh start was in order. Guitar duo Mark Kelson & Chris Burton saw this as their opportunity to start The Eternal, although Chris left The Eternal after recording the first album, The Sombre Light Of Isolation[i], was released.

Then cam name change.
The Eternal formed in Melbourne in 2003, The Eternal signed a two-album deal with Firebox Records of Finland on the strength of their self-titled promotional EP. Their debut album for Firebox, [i]The Sombre Light Of Isolation, was released worldwide in June 2004 and received glowing reviews in both mainstream and underground media around the globe. The band was named in Kerrang! magazine's 50 Bands You Need To Know Right Now. In support of this album, The Eternal toured Australia, Hong Kong, continental Europe, UK and Finland in late 2004, and upon return immediately set about writing material for their second album, Sleep Of Reason.