Sin seems to be a common theme this year. Last month, Puerto Rican sludge-proggers Moths dropped seven tracks on their Septem album, each song named after each sin. Up next, Indian groove metal act Eternal Returns also is conceptually dedicating their upcoming album to sin.
Members Narendra Patel, Shankul Chavan, and Harsh Makwana are joined by Ukrainian drummer Viktor Lytvynov (Detestor, Orbstruct, Swarmhole) on the group’s upcoming album – Let There Be Sin releasing September 5th via Brutal Records. Intro “Birth-Life-Death” is epic, instrumental, and full of cinematic suspense, setting the tone for the following pieces “Sloth,” “Lust,” “Envy,” etc.
Ranging from groovy thrash metal to early metalcore and melodic death metal sounds, influences likely range from Lamb of God to Trivium and maybe even the prog-nü metal of Mudvayne.
“Greed” reveals an early 2000’s American metal sound, with clean melodies / growl duality and big riffs like a sweaty Ozzfest side stage. The eerie music video was directed by Shubham Sharma.
My favorite pick of the litter would be “Wrath.” Starting hypnotic, the track enters some near-Meshuggah territory, while mixing in some In Flames. “Emasculator” closes the album strong, leaning into a more Amon Amarth or Arch Enemy style.
Although Eternal Returns milks nostalgia from an era of metal that I’m not as personally fond of, they do it with sincere conviction and the utmost respect and creativity. I’m missing some of the experimental prog elements and modern riffs that were more abundant on their previous album Hunchback Hatred, yet there’s clear evidence of a growing, evolving band here on Let There Be Sin. At gunpoint, this sinful record deserves a solid 8.