Review by Alex on May 18, 2019.

The Night Eternal have got something special here, a dreamy type of heavy metal that I can't stop listening to at the moment. It's only 4 original songs but the delivery tells of way greater things to come. This record is a surprise especially at this point which sees heavy metal blossom with new bands every day. Hearing The Night Eternal reminds me of so many bands, but more specifically they sound like a bridge between Demon Head and a much bigger band that I refuse to mention. It also has a very progressive overtone that keeps me keen during its entirety, further adding to my likeness of the material and replay-value. It has all the right amounts of mystery and progression for a heavy metal record of this nature. There's a haunting and foreboding yet very optimistic sound thanks to the vocalist, his voice brings The Night Eternal to the table of good debut records thus far for 2019. His range is good and has a professional sound but also reeks of a lingering underground rawness. Don't let your guard down, The Night Eternal is one of the bands to stay abreast with for 2019 and forward. 

The first note of the title track gave me the impression that the music here's of a high caliber, as it progressed every song following sounded better as if trying to out-perform the prior. They speak volumes of The Night Eternal’s ability to compose music that carries with it a succinct theme. This 4-track EP is superb, it's a fountain of ear catching melodies that are rich in atmosphere. Just imagine a full-length effort from this band, it would stomp all over the underground metal floor. The music is so good that the fantastic artwork is provided with an air of animation. From the opening lick of “Eternal Night”, to the guitar soloing and transitions used to bridge the chorus, these tunes extend their reach for the listeners ears. 

You can't pretend the music is bad, no way, it's top of the line material that sounds as if it was produced in the mid-80s. Whilst listening to “Mark of Kain” I developed such a likeness for the material that it had me wishing the session would not come to an end. There's so much to extract from this material that it buries the feeble efforts of other bands both underground and commercial. Not too impressed with the Judas Priest cover, it's not bad, it just doesn't suit the band and tone here, as the tunes created on The Night Eternal Dark are dark sounding. However, for what's delivered as original tracks I'm very pleased and hope that a full-length record is or will be in the works soon.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 2, 2023.

It may be slamming death metal completely by the book, but I'd be a dirty liar if I went around saying that I don't like this.

From the logo, layout and the artwork, there are no prizes for guessing in which domain Cercenatory operates. Brutal death metal, with gutturals that sound as if coming from the bottom of a slimy well, as well as slamming sections alternating with savage blast beat driven upheaval, you've heard this before. Bands such as Devourment, Defleshed and Gutted and Devour The Unborn helped write the book on the style, and these guys almost follow it letter by letter. Is that a bad thing, you might ask? Well no, because this style is one of those I prefer as pure as possible. I do not need uber-technical Marty Friedman style leads, psychedelic interludes or marimba solo's in my brutal slamming death, just a right old pummeling. And a pummeling is what they provide. The slams are crushing, the gutturals undecipherable and the fast parts down-tuned and chaotic in an awesome way. By the insertion of some death metal guitar leads, the band actually manages to insert some identity of their own here. And these are the good kind of leads, Marty Friedman isn't seen or heard anywhere near. Which is nice.

What isn't nice, is that we are confronted with a cliché of brutal death I'm not that frisky for, and that is the inclusion of pointless spoken word samples. Here it's just another instance where they fill up space and add little to nothing to the whole, and as in most cases, it does cause some annoyance here. Another thing that caused annoyance is the paint can sound of the snare drum, veering dangerously close to the dreaded "St Anger" snare. It's not as annoying as that, but it still needed some getting used to on my part.

As a closer I'd like to point out that the production is more on the raw side than that of most of their brethren, which I actually like a lot. It's not as oppressive and over-produced as other bands in the genre, which makes it sound all the more brutal and violent, in my opinion. The fact that the overall sound mix is somewhat off-balance actually adds to the chaotic atmosphere Cercenatory exudes in the faster parts, which sounds great, to be honest. One thing that could've been more in the background is that paint can snare, though. Other than that, great stuff!

There you have it, brutal slamming death mostly played by the book, yet with some touches one doesn't expect, and a raw and violent production that gives it a somewhat demented edge that suits them fine. This should not fail to please the brutal death metal hound out there, for sure.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 2, 2023.

It may be slamming death metal completely by the book, but I'd be a dirty liar if I went around saying that I don't like this.

From the logo, layout and the artwork, there are no prizes for guessing in which domain Cercenatory operates. Brutal death metal, with gutturals that sound as if coming from the bottom of a slimy well, as well as slamming sections alternating with savage blast beat driven upheaval, you've heard this before. Bands such as Devourment, Defleshed and Gutted and Devour The Unborn helped write the book on the style, and these guys almost follow it letter by letter. Is that a bad thing, you might ask? Well no, because this style is one of those I prefer as pure as possible. I do not need uber-technical Marty Friedman style leads, psychedelic interludes or marimba solo's in my brutal slamming death, just a right old pummeling. And a pummeling is what they provide. The slams are crushing, the gutturals undecipherable and the fast parts down-tuned and chaotic in an awesome way. By the insertion of some death metal guitar leads, the band actually manages to insert some identity of their own here. And these are the good kind of leads, Marty Friedman isn't seen or heard anywhere near. Which is nice.

What isn't nice, is that we are confronted with a cliché of brutal death I'm not that frisky for, and that is the inclusion of pointless spoken word samples. Here it's just another instance where they fill up space and add little to nothing to the whole, and as in most cases, it does cause some annoyance here. Another thing that caused annoyance is the paint can sound of the snare drum, veering dangerously close to the dreaded "St Anger" snare. It's not as annoying as that, but it still needed some getting used to on my part.

As a closer I'd like to point out that the production is more on the raw side than that of most of their brethren, which I actually like a lot. It's not as oppressive and over-produced as other bands in the genre, which makes it sound all the more brutal and violent, in my opinion. The fact that the overall sound mix is somewhat off-balance actually adds to the chaotic atmosphere Cercenatory exudes in the faster parts, which sounds great, to be honest. One thing that could've been more in the background is that paint can snare, though. Other than that, great stuff!

There you have it, brutal slamming death mostly played by the book, yet with some touches one doesn't expect, and a raw and violent production that gives it a somewhat demented edge that suits them fine. This should not fail to please the brutal death metal hound out there, for sure.

Rating: 8 out of 10