Band:	Satyrian
Album:	Eternitas
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	April 17, 2006
Guest review by:	Cal Wolvington

01. Eternitas
02. Invictus
03. Feel The Rush
04. My Legacy
05. The Dark Gift
06. Sacred Lies
07. Bridge Of Death
08. Fall From Grace
09. No Tears, No Embrace
10. The Haunted Lovers
11. This Dream
12. Ewigkeit

Satyrian achieve some amazing things on their 2006 album. They provide fans of female fronted symphonic metal with one of the most unique female voices found in the genre, they add an extra dimension to their music with the use of male vocals and growls and most importantly, they deliver an album full of great songs that are perfectly fit for both singing along (if you can manage growls, that is) and banging your head. This is the world of dark, yet catchy symphonic metal with a gothic edge and as far as unknown bands go, Satyrian are definitely top 10 material. Welcome to Eternitas.

Not many bands can boast two capable singers, Satyrian have four. Kemi Vita is the female lead and while she doesn't sing operatically, her voice is still very powerful and fits perfectly with the music. Her lower notes are especially enjoyable, they occasionally sound like the world's loudest whispers. Oliver Philipps takes care of clean male vocals. His voice is quite deep, reminiscent of the late Peter Steele. Satyrian also make use of growls, which unfortunately are the weakest vocals in the bunch. These aren't the best growls you've ever heard by a long shot. Still, Roman Schönsee isn't too bad either and his growls help make the songs more varied, so the band still win from his vocal performance. That leaves us with Judith Stüber, the backing vocalist who is definitely an essential part of this near-perfect formula.

But what are great vocalists without great material to perform? This brings us to Satyrian's second trump card: they are simply superb at creating catchy and memorable songs. When compared against the soupe de jour of symphonic metal bands, Satyrian's music is heavier and certainly much darker. They also make excellent use of classical instruments like piano and violin and don't use classical elements for the sake of using them, but to create some of the most enjoyable music the genre has had to offer in the last 5-6 years. Most of the songs on Eternitas make one want to sing along even on the very first listening as evidenced by the opening track "Eternitas". The song dares anyone not to join in when the chorus echoes the word "eternitas!" for the third time. There isn't a weak song on the album, but "Eternitas", "Invictus", "Sacred Lies" and "Feel The Rush" are definitely the highlights. The folk-metal crossover ballad "The Bridge Of Death" also deserves an honorable mention.

And so, here's the bottom line: Satyrian are a fantastic band that deserve to be heard by everyone who consider themselves a fan of the symphonic metal genre, there is really something special here. Unfortunately Satyrian haven't released another album since Eternitas in 2006 and it will be a shame if they never will. If that should be their fate then both their fans and the band members can at least feel satisfied in knowing that Satyrian have ended their career on a very high note.