Eternity’s End: Catchiness Is Key

The multi-talented Christian Muenzner has predominantly plied his trade in the field of death metal, contributing to some of the most notable bands in the genre’s history. One project which may well have slipped under the radar is ETERNITY’S END. An endeavour which is equally as technical and demanding but allows Christian another avenue to bring his creativity to the forefront.

“I’ve been playing death metal for many, many years and I love playing death metal but I’ve always had a kind of a classic metal, speed metal kind of background and the whole world of extreme metal albums opened up to me later on. When I started playing death metal I didn’t even know much about it. I was just trying to fit in and work with really skillful musicians and work hard to keep up with those guys. Now I feel like I bring my classic heavy metal, speed metal influences into the world of death metal and I think this is also what gave OBSCURA a sound of its own. The reason I was so heavily involved in death metal was that it was much easier to find those style of vocalists. It’s a lot more difficult to find someone to sing the more progressive style of metal so I’m really happy that I’ve been able to show this side of my playing and writing.”

ETERNITY’S END is packed full of high energy and incredible instrumentation and their upcoming release Embers Of War hopes to build on the sound they have established thus far. “I always strive to come as close as possible to my musical vision. I never want to compromise,” explains Christian. “I kind of wanted to create a sound that sounds modern and polished but without losing the vibe and the flair. I think the biggest thing I had in mind this time around was to improve the production. I always see an album as a time document and it should represent the best I can do as a musician at that point in time. I have to say I feel very happy and very accomplished with what we have created.”

“Our style is very aggressive, very riff-driven music that’s often reminiscent of like thrash metal combined with the 80s school of power metal. We like to have big choruses and tonnes of solos but at the same time be catchy and accessible as possible with all the technicality involved. When it comes to the writing process I always find it most important to make sure the song has catchy elements and is accessible but also has an instantly recognisable driving riff that is unique to the song. A strong chorus and strong vocal melody which is memorable is also really important. It’s essential to leave room in the guitars for the vocal arrangements to sit and I feel like this is something we didn’t pay attention to in previous releases”.

The refreshed lineup going into this album cycle has witnessed the mouth-watering prospect of seeing the trio of Christian, Hannes Grossmann and Linus Klausenitzer return to the stage. Something which has not been experienced since 2014 when they were all part of OBSCURA. The new acquisitions have also allowed Christian the opportunity to take this project to the next logical step. “ETERNITY’S END has more or less always been considered as an online project and as much as I love the other musicians, personality-wise and music-wise it just doesn’t work out if you want to take a band to the next level. You can’t get together for photoshoots or for music videos and you have to fly people in from three of four different continents. It would just cost far too much. I have put so much time into this band that I feel that there is potential to take it to the next level. This is why I focused on getting a lineup which would be in close proximity so we could rehearse. It was a no brainer to ask Linus and I’ve known Justin for a few years now and he has the skill to play this kind of stuff. I tried for a while to find a keyboard player but I was struggling to find either someone with the skill or someone who was within our budget so we decided that if we are playing older songs live we’ll sample the keyboards. Also, because a large portion of this band has already played hundreds of shows together and we know how to collaborate it will make live shows very easy.”

Embers Of War is out now via Prosthetic Records.

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