ETERNITY’S END is an international power/speed metal band with neoclassical influences, founded it 2014. Diego González talked to guitarist and founder Christian Münzner about the amazing new album “Embers Of Fire” and more… Enjoy!
-Hi Christian, I’m really glad to have you on Heavy Metal Fire. Congrats on “Embers Of War” as well. It’s an amazing album on the whole! How are you doing right now?
Thank you very much for your positive feedback and kind words! I’m doing very good, I was working relentlessly all around the clock on the new ETERNITY’S END and OBSCURA albums simultaneously for the last 1.5 years like a madman, so I am glad and relieved those albums are finally being released and well received by fans and press. However, there is not time to slow down or rest as right now I am balancing my time between teaching guitar on Skype, recording the new album of my band ALKALOID, doing interviews and promotion for the ETERNITY’S END album and practicing for the upcoming OBSCURA tours. Of course the uncertainty of the Covid situation feels like a dark shadow hanging over one’s head, but I guess that’s the same for everyone.
-“Embers Of War” is your third album. Musically, how can you qualify this new release compared to the previous ones?
I think it’s our most old school and most aggressive sounding album so far, but also the catchiest in my opinion. I also think this one puts us closer to our own style, voice and sound within the genre. We went through a bit of a transformation, the band started off doing the YNGWIE/SYMPHONY X/STRATOVARIUS worship thing on our first album, “The Fire Within” (2016), with at times faster, thrashier and more technical riffing and drumming. On the second album we still had those influences, but mixed them with 80’s German and US Speed Metal influences, which was quite a unique approach, as other neoclassical bands did not really do that. On this new album we embraced those old school influences even more, putting them at the core of our sound and adding the neoclassical elements as an icing on the cake on top of them, instead of the other way around as it was on the previous album.
-Where did you find your newest member, guitarist Justin Hombach? What did he bring in the band?
I have known Justin for a couple of years. There is not really a super big guitar scene in Germany, so all the more advanced players know each other. Justin does not live too far away, has incredible technical command of the instrument and a great musical knowledge and understanding of harmony and theory, as he also studied Jazz Guitar at university, and he is a big power and progressive metal fan. The album was already completely written when he joined, but he wrote and recorded his individual solos for the album. Musically he brings a great contrast to my style, as his approach is a little bit different. Where my soloing style in ETERNITY’S END is rooted mostly in 80’s shred and neoclassical, he incorporates influences of some more modern players as well as Jazz influences into his playing, without sacrificing that old school energy and attitude needed for our sound. Outside of the music he also really helped the band grow and get more widely recognized in the recent months as he handles all our social media assets and knows that stuff very well.
-What are some of the essential elements that ETERNITY’S END music contains in order to make it sound ETERNITY´S END in the first place?
Very aggressive, at times technical riffs, more busy than what you would normally find in the power metal realm, I think that’s our background in technical death metal shining through, but always with this classic 80’s flair in terms of the note choices. The riff count is certainly higher than in what a lot of people associate with the term Power Metal. Most of the songs are very fast, so the drumming is also more relentless. We always try to go for very catchy hooks and big choruses with big epic choirs which you find in basically all of our songs since the 2nd album. Lots of key modulations (mostly in the solo parts) and rhythm changes and breaks and at times more complex baroque sounding progressions, but always trying to keep it compact and accessible in terms of structure. Soaring, high pitched vocals and lots of harmonized guitar solos and trade offs. Lyrics mostly inspired by sci fi and fantasy, embracing the heroic element.
-With all of the various subgenres of metal today, how would you describe what you do to someone who had never heard you before? Do you think a lot of those sub-classifications are unnecessary?
I would say we play a hybrid of 80’s US Speed Metal and 80’s + 90’s German Power Metal with influences of Neoclassical and Progressive Metal, very riff driven, sometimes borderline Thrash Metal, and you can even find traces of Technical Death Metal in some of the riffing. Sub-classifications can be helpful to describe to someone who has never heard a band before what they sound like, but when I write music I do not worry about those terms too much. Music is a language you acquire over the duration of an entire life and there comes a point when things just fall into place naturally. A lot of bands I feel listen to only one style or subgenre of metal and are only influence by other bands who move exactly within the confines and stylistic boarders of that sub-genre, and very often that tends to sound very generic. To me this is all just Heavy Metal and there is so much inspiration to draw from many of the different subgenres that emerged over the decades.
-What made you decide to sign to Prosthetic Records for this new release?
They approached us after the “Unyielding” album was released. We had only been on very small labels before and the specific style we play did not sit well with European labels, and apart from their interest in us I felt we would fit very well in their artist roaster, as they have/had bands like PALADIN, EXMORTUS or HOLY GRAIL who also go for a mix of classical heavy/power/thrash influences with more guitar shred and neoclassical stuff. I saw us fit there much better than with German labels who only focus on the most generic Euro Power.
-How did you start working on the songs for “Embers Of War”? Do you create the music and develop the ideas on your own or did you work and compose the music as a unit?
I wrote all the music myself for this album. The writing went very spontaneous. Usually I was just messing around with the guitar and would brainstorm and collect riffs, try them out in different keys etc. These days usually when I find a very strong and catchy riff or hook, the rest of the song writes itself around that quickly usually within 1-3 days. I made demos of all the songs for the other guys in the band. I wrote the vocal melodies and then wrote the lyrics on top of the melodies to makes the syllables fit and not having to sacrifice the melodic flow for the words being used. There was an insane period between Christmas and New Years Eve 2019 when I wrote 5 songs within 5-6 days, I was super inspired and just could not stop.
-Please, do give a hint about each track.
“Dreadnought (The Voyage Of The Damned)” is a fast speed metal song, influenced by SAVAGE GRACE, RUNNING WILD, SCANNER and very early HELLOWEEN (EP & “Walls Of Jericho” era). The lyrics describe a sea battle in the first world war between the German and British fleets.
“Bane Of The Black Sword” is very fast, tripled paced song. It has a lot of neoclassical themes and a lot of key and rhythm changes. It has a more progressive and deliberately chaotic structure and does not follow the classic verse/chorus/solo structure. The lyrics are about Michael Moorcock’s character Elric of Melnibone and his sword Stormbringer. The sword gives Elric super powers, but also possesses him and even makes him kill the people he loves. He has a deal with Arioch, the most powerful of the dukes of hell, who assists Elric when he is in trouble, but in return owns Elric’s soul for all Eternity.
“The Hounds Of Tindalos” mixes RUNNING WILD influence (“Black Hand Inn”, “Masquerade”, “The Rivalry” era) with 80’s Yngwie era influence (“Marching Out”/“Trilogy”), the solo section has some more modern hints of bands like SYMPHONY X. I really like the riffing in this song and the way the vocal melodies increase in intensity. It has one of the catchiest choruses on the album. The lyrics are inspired by the short story of the same name by Frank Belknap Long. It’s about a character experimenting in time travel with the help of psychedelic drugs and esoteric artifacts. In doing so he discovers the hounds which inhabit the angles of time. Once a human becomes known to one of these creatures, a Hound Of Tindalos will pursue the victim through anything to reach its quarry. A person risks attracting their attention by travelling through time.
“Call Of The Valkyries” is a very brutal and very technical track. Musically we were aiming to combine the power and intensity of JUDAS PRIEST’s “Painkiller” with the neoclassical finesse and technical riffing of HELSTAR’s “Nosferatu” album. Throw a little bit of Yngwie in the mix as well. You can probably also spot our background in technical death metal in this track, without using any of the superficial elements of the style, hidden in the riffing without breaking the heavy/power metal formular. Lyrically the song is inspired by Norse mythology, it describes the feeling of riding into battle in the face of death, hearing the call of the Valkyries as you die.
“Arcturus Prime” is the most technical track and has the most challenging guitar work on the album, but also one of the catchiest choruses. It’s like a mix of HIBRIA, IRON SAVIOR and RACER X. Lyrically it is loosely inspired by the 2nd part of Dan Simmons Hyperion series, The Fall Of Hyperion.
“Shaded Heart” is the most unusual track for us. It mixes late 80’s Prog Influences of bands like FATES WARNING, QUEENSRYCHE and CRIMSON GLORY with a little bit of AOR and a RACER X “Second Heat” era harmony solo. It has a lot of odd meters and interesting rhythmic and harmonic changes. The lyrics deal with the question of life after death and the possibility of our consciousness becoming one with the cosmos again after leaving our bodily form.
“Deathrider” was the first song written for the album. The lyrics are loosely inspired by the Ghostrider comic series, about an undead biker cult participating in a death race. It’s a straight forward, ferocious speed metal song, combining the savage riffing of bands like SAVAGE GRACE or BEWITCHED with the virtuosic twin guitar approach of bands like ANGRA and RACER X.
“Embers Of War”, the title track, is the longest song with 9 minutes and 30 seconds. It has a very epic structure where the verses are different from each other, the song has different chapters and guitar interludes appearing in unexpected places. It even has elements of technical thrash metal and even black metal. It’s like early 90’s BLIND GUARDIAN with more shredding and more extreme metal influences. The lyrics are a sci fi fantasy story which is also reflected on the cover of the album. The human civilization of a distant planet is attacked by a robotic alien race comparable to the Borg in Star Trek TNG, which seeks to enslave humanity. Through ancient spells the planetary inhabitants resurrect a legendary hero from their culture’s mythology who leads them in the war against the cyborg regime.
-Tell me about the "Hounds Of Tindalos" video. And how do you go about choosing a single when you have such an excellent collection of tracks?
I found this to be the most accessible and straight forward song on the album and I like the atmosphere and the chorus and vocal melodies a lot, it was an intuitive thing that this song would be the single. I like all the songs on the album and find that all have very catchy choruses, but some take a bit more time because of the longer solo parts or more unusual structures. This song always seemed to be the most immediate to me. The video was shot by Mirko Witzki whom I worked with before for the 4 Obscura music videos we did for the current album. I sent Mirko the song and explained him the story of the lyrics, and then he had the idea to shoot the video in this old military bunker from the cold war in Germany. He did a great job and recreating that dark fantasy/sci fi atmosphere of the lyrics with the flickering lights and all the individual musicians performing in front of the interdimensional gate.
-Did all the songs you wrote make it in the album or do you have some unreleased worthy material?
No, there were 11 songs written in total, only 8 are on the regular album. The Japanese edition has a bonus track, “In The Wake Of The Carrion King”. Another song we recorded but did not include because the album seemed more coherent in its current form. The 11th song was written but not recorded yet. We will see if these songs will resurface in their current or a reworked form on future recordings.
-“Embers Of War” was produced by yourself and Hannes Grossman. Why did you decide not to work with Piet Sielck this time?
Hannes is running his own studio, Mordor Sound Studios, since a couple of years. The productions he made over the last couple of years have gotten better and better, the 2nd ALKALOID album and my last solo album “Path Of The Hero” had my favorite production out of any albums I have been on prior to the new ETERNITY’S END and OBSCURA albums. Hannes and me have a very similar idea for guitar and drum sound and mixing balances because we have been playing music together for almost 20 years now, and we just have a very smooth workflow, so it seemed to be the most logical decision for me.
-However, Piet collaborates in the backing vocals, am I right?
Yes, Piet and Jan from IRON SAVIOR provided the choirs. Piet also gave some input on some of the chorus melodies and wording as for how they would work the best, because he has decades of experience with vocals and choirs and I can blindly trust him with that.
-What are your aspirations for “Embers of War”?
Honestly, my only aspirations when making a new album are strictly artistic. I want to write and record the best music that I can that is 100% faithful to my vision. Everything else that comes after that is a bonus. Of course I would like everyone who is into the type of music that we do to hear it, because in the past a lot of people simply did not know that we existed. That is changing now. Often I see musicians and bands getting frustrated because they do not have the commercial success that they expect, or they don’t get the big tours that they were hoping for, but I think these are the wrong motivations to create and play Heavy Metal. I simply want to perpetuate my ideas and put them out there for people to discover who connect with that energy and are in for the ride.
-Let’s talk about the artwork by Dimitar Nikolov. What is the idea behind the cover?
I have always been a fan of both Sword & Sorcery stories, movies and aesthetics as well as 80’s Science Fiction. Our lyrics are inspired by both of these genres. That’s why I always loved the aesthetics of the original Masters Of The Universe series, because it combined elements of both worlds. So I wanted to have a cover that represents both worlds and I developed the concept for it. What you see on the cover is a scene from the title track. The warrior with the long white hair is inspired by Elric Of Melnibone, the robot he is fighting is a mix of a robot Thor and the Shrike from the Hyperion saga. In the background you see a gothic cathedral burning and space ships invading. I described the scene to Dimitar, and since he is into a lot of the same sci fi and fantasy characters as I am he instantly understood the vision. It is painted in acrylic colours and not digital. Too many power metal bands these days rely on digital art and it all looks the same, we wanted more 80’s aesthetics with this.
-ETERNITY’S END isn’t the only band you’re involved these days. You also play in PARADOX and OBSCURA, for example. Do you feel comfortable being in different bands?
Exactly, and I also play in ALKALOID (with whom we are recording a new album right now) and have my instrumental solo project. I like it because I like so many different styles and this gives me the chance to showcase different sides of my playing and writing in each band and project. I would get bored quickly if I could play only one style. During the pandemic we were recording new albums with ETERNITY’S END, OBSCURA and PARADOX so I was basically all the time in the studio. But it does not come without challenges. Right now we are in the promotion phase for “Embers Of War”, I have to do a lot of interviews and handle the online shop, prepare and practice for the upcoming OBSCURA tours, record guitars for the new ALKALOID album and I am still teaching 15.16 students every week as none of the bands make enough money to survive on, so my days are quite packed. But I like it, this is my job and I am a workaholic, I cannot sit still and do nothing.
-What’s next for ETERNITY’S END? And what about your future musical projects with the other bands?
Soon we will start collecting new ideas for the next album. We would also like to bring ETERNITY’S END to the stage, but I am not 20 anymore and I will not start right from scratch investing personal money and play for food or beer and no pay just to work my way up again. So this will only happen if the offers make sense, and if we don’t pull enough people to at least cover our costs and expenses there will be no live shows for ETERNITY’S END. With OBSCURA we are now preparing for the tours next year, and we are recording a new ALKALOID album. With PARADOX we are also talking about the next album. Not sure if I will do another solo album any time soon or not, I think I want to focus on my bands for a while.
-And now some random questions… ¿Which was the first song you learned to play?
That was “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC.
-What got you into metal?
It was in the summer of 1991, when I was 9 years old. A friend from my neighbourhood had AC/DC’s “The Razor’s Edge” album on tape. As soon as I heard the opening riff of “Thunderstruck” I was forever changed. The decision to play guitar came 2 years later after I saw IRON MAIDEN live on the “Fear Of The Dark” tour.
-What is the biggest reward for you personally that you have gotten thus far by playing metal music?
I still find the fact surreal that anyone would want to listen my music that I write here in my cave, haha, not to mention people all around the world. The fact that people tell me that my music means something to them, is important to them, makes them feel better, helped them through difficult time or was a positive inspiration to them is the biggest reward one can get as a musician. It was also very rewarding for me to be able to play and record with a lot of my favourite musicians and getting positive feedback from players I looked up to in my formative years and still do. And of course all the great people I have met during the last 20 years with whom I would never have crossed paths if it had not been for the music.
-What are the things that you like and don’t like in today’s metal scene?
What I like is the open-ness nowadays to different styles and subgenres. Especially the younger metalheads these days do no longer have the attitude that they only listen to Thrash Metal or only to Power Metal or only to Black Metal etc. but they are open to several subgenres and can enjoy it all, and also people seem to be more open minded nowadays towards more technical or challenging stuff (well, except for in Germany, haha). What I do not like so much is a lot of the hate and negativity online, so as soon as someone releases and album they have worked on relentlessly for 1 or 2 years of their lives and then share it with the world for free, people anonymously rip it apart, which is so much easier than creating something. People who never create anything seem to think it improves their status by ripping those apart who do.
-Name ten of your favourite albums of all time.
Hmm, that’s a tough one, 50 would be easier, haha. Anyway, let me give this a try:
BLACK SABBATH – Headless Cross
HELSTAR – Nosferatu
CRIMSON GLORY – Transcendence
JOEY TAFOLLA – Out Of The Sun
TONY MACALPINE – Edge Of Insanity
VINNIE MOORE – Mind’s Eye
ANNIHILATOR – Never Neverland
FATES WARNING – No Exit
RIOT – Thundersteel
VICIOUS RUMORS – Digital Dictator
-That’s all for now Christian! Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview. Wish you the best for the future to come. Take care dude!
Thank you very much! All the best to you as well!
Diego González.
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