Eternal
Decision
Christian metal band from Oklahoma
that has a reputation for sounding like Metallica,
mostly due to original singer Joe Chambless ' vocal style. On their second CD
they added a second vocalist which helped to get them away from the Metallica label. However, their first two CDs are both groove-laden heavy metal with some
thrash influences. By their third CD they had begun to follow trends and started
sounding more like the nu-metal, alternative radio-oriented garbage. At that
point I lost interest.
Eternal Decision (Cling Recordings) 1997
1. "Risen" (3:55)
2. "Power" (3:15)
3. "The Search" (5:48)
4. "Overflow" (3:30)
5. "Things I Say" (4:25)
6. "Fearless" (4:48)
7. "Imminent Destruction" (4:12)
8. "Alive" (5:10)
9. "Turn" (4:26)
10. Hunger" (5:40)
11. "C.T.G." (4:00)
12. "Stomping Ground" (4:15)
This one has been re-released at least three times with three different covers. The cover above is the first re-release by Cling and was created by Franks' Enemy guitarist Julio Rey. Cover #3 (Godfather Records) is much better than this one. Cover #1 was REALLY bad, even worse than the one above. The music is snappy, speed metal with a ton of a groove, heavily influenced by Pantera. Vocalist Joe Chambless has spent a lot of time studying his Metallica albums as he sounds very similar to James Hetfield both is style and even in quality. Perhaps this is why the band has been labeled a Metallica clone, even though their music is not really that Metallica-like. The production is very digital sounding, right down to the triggered drums and guitars that sound like they are recorded direct (computer generated), rather than through an amp. In my opinion, this takes away from the sound. Still, despite the digital recording, I like this disc. It has enough hooks to keep me coming back for repeated listens.
Eternal Decision - Ghost in the Machine (Godfather Records) 1999
1. "Breaking"
(4:33)
2. "Strength" (4:54)
3. "Ghost in the Machine" (2:42)
4. "Killing Me" (3:53)
5. "Thru This Pain" (5:46)
6. "Blindsided" (3:34)
7. "Scar" (5:40)
8. "Alien" (3:52)
9. "Beyond" (4:19)
10. "Without Shelter" (4:26)
Eternal Decision wisely adds a second singer to break away from the Metallica comparisons, but they also add some more "modern" elements to the music as well, which helped the album to sell better, gained them a bigger underground following, and even gained them a single ("Blindsided") that got some CCM airplay, but wasn't to my liking. (Like they care!) I am old school metal 'til death. The production, while being better than the first album still has that sterile electronic drum sound. Sorry, this one just doesn't float my boat as much as their first album did. Favorite tracks: "Breaking" and "Strength."