Swedish melodic hard rockers Eclipse released what many
regarded as album of the year Armageddonize in 2015.
To equal or even top that
was going to be difficult but in new release “Monumentum” not only have they
done that, they may have blown it out of the water...it’s that good! Eclipse
have developed a melodic, hard and heavy sound that grabs you by the balls from
the start and doesn’t let go of its grip.
Fast tempo opener ‘Vertigo’ is broken up with solid riffs
and has a nice lyrical play on words comparing the world as having vertigo
spinning round and round.
“Never Look Back” has a heavy driving riff with a massive
hook and chorus. A slower middle section adds to the song as it picks up the
pace again.
A number of songs on the album have darker and painful
lyrics, ’Never Look Back’ being one of them but it’s more noticeable on
‘Killing Me’. A slightly slower tempo song initially it switches between fast
and slow tempo and the vocal delivery from Erik is in a slightly lower
register. A great underlying riff and harmonised background vocals make this a
killer song with a nice solo from Magnus.
“The Downfall of Eden”
continues the darker theme. A serious song about the Earths plight with
lines such as ‘let the children be our judge’ gives you the general idea. A mid
to fast tempo number with Celtic sound in places it has with most Eclipse songs
that powerful bass and drum combination from Magnus Ulfstedt and Philip
Crusner.
‘Hurt’ is next up and is a power ballad with a difference as
it’s about a break up. It fills out from about 1min 30s in and features a
powerful, moodier vocal delivery filled with pain with a melodic solo that is
pure gold.
‘Jaded’ has a guitar/vocal intro that builds into a good old
fashioned rocker with a great heavy riff throughout. Again there are deeper
lyrics to this song.
A typical Eclipse song has power combined with melody, huge
hooks and choruses and a driving rhythm section and this is well demonstrated
on ‘Born to Lead’ which features a cracking solo.
Before you know it you are at track 8 ‘For Better or For
Worse’. A slightly more modern sounding song. It’s basically a love song but a
fast paced one with more great guitar work.
The heavier ‘No Way Back’ follows. A fast paced guitar intro
leads to that heavier sound which is driven along with a great bridge into the
excellent solo. The abrupt end just adds to its impact.
‘Night Comes Crawling’ continues in the same vein but is a
slightly catchier song but still a typical Eclipse tune full of power, rhythm
and great lead and background vocals.
The whole album has been building to the climactic ‘Black
Rain’. The heaviest song on the album which has a classic bass and drum
section. With its killer chorus, guitar solo and a nice keyboard outro it’s
possibly the best track on the album.
With the ‘Armageddonize’ sound coupled with the darker,
moodier lyrics “Monumentum” has raised the bar for this genre of music and with
Martensson and Henricksson becoming a writing force to be reckoned with this
album should see Eclipse playing higher up festival gigs than they currently
are and hopefully gain a wider audience outside of Europe. They certainly
deserve it, a pre-order must!!!
Review by Andy Gillen
Eclipse are :
Erik Mårtensson – lead vocals, guitars
Magnus Henricksson – guitars
Philip Crusner – drums
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