AETERNIA – Into the Golden Halls

Some albums are meant to be long, some albums are meant to be short, and some albums are meant not to exist at all. Before going further, there’s no reason to knock anybody for wanting to follow their dreams of being a musician. But if the music isn’t great, someone has got to speak the truth. The band is Aeternia; they’re a German power metal band that formed in 2020 and released an EP in 2022 called, The Quest. These guys clearly are passionate about what they do and confident in their abilities; maybe too confident considering they decided to record and produce their debut studio album, Into the Golden Halls (2025), themselves. Without the proper guidance of an experienced producer, who actually knows what they’re doing, the band basically shot themselves in the foot and set themselves up for failure.

An Album Doomed for Failure

Right off the bat, Into the Golden Halls kicks off with the most horrendous instrumental known to mankind. It’s less than a minute long, but the guitar melodies are so annoying that it seems like the instrumental goes on forever. This is what’s known as “video game guitar playing,” where the guitarist tries to cram in too many notes in a song, essentially giving the song a lifeless affair, to the point where it sounds like something from Super Mario Bros. The transition into the first official song on the record, “Dragon’s Gaze,” is actually not bad. As for the song itself, despite the video game guitar playing, the musicianship is solid and man, Hendrik Czirr is a beast of a drummer. The only major criticism for the song is Daniele Gelsomino’s vocals, which he makes clearly obvious he’s never had a singing lesson in his entire life; he doesn’t sing with any emotion or feeling.

The only other decent song on the album is “Trial by Fire and Water,” which doesn’t sound like power metal at all. It’s a groovy, hard rock banger with a beat that is reminiscent of Mötley Crüe’s “Primal Scream.” Topped with a killer guitar riff with heavy distortion, the song is loads of fun. “The Descendant” is a weird one because with the heavy metal choir backing vocals and mid tempo beat, it sounds like an Irish drinking song. Think Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but not as funny, even though it’s not supposed to be funny. If that makes sense? It’s hard not to picture a group of drunk vikings gathered in a bar singing along to this song.

Final Assessment

The band’s decision to produce the album themselves was not the right call because the majority of the album sounds like a chaotic mess. It doesn’t even sound like a power metal album, especially going from tracks like, “Five Rode Forth” to “Trial by Fire and Water.” Speaking of the former, the vocals are absolutely horrible. The musicianship on that track, like “Dragon’s Gaze,” is not bad, but the vocals make the listening experience sound like a never-ending nightmare. “Forged in Fire” is even worse with the high-pitched screams. The backing vocals for the album’s last three tracks (“The Descendant,” “Lightbringer,” and “Lay of the Hildebrand”) do not help either. Maybe if the backing vocals resembled an angry biker gang, instead of a heavy metal school choir, these songs would be looked at differently. If Aeternia had a producer guiding them throughout the recording process, they could’ve told the band to take proper singing lessons, stop trying to play too many notes at the same time, give the bass playing a chance to breathe, and rework some songs. Everyone hears things differently, however, so if interested, give Aeternia’s Into the Golden Halls a chance!

Album Tracklist

1. Ascending
2. Dragon’s Gaze
3. Five Rode Forth
4. Trial by Fire and Water
5. Forged in Fire
6. The Descendant
7. Lightbringer (Fall of the Church)
8. Lay of Hildebrand

Band Lineup

Sven Hamacher – bass guitar
Martin Kramer – guitars
Daniele Gelsomino – lead vocals
Hendrik Czirr – drums
David Ponwitz – guitars

Check out the lyric video for “Dragon’s Gaze” from Aeternia’s Into the Golden Halls!