Picture - Eternal Dark (1983)

Metal heads used to feed off this type of imagery. 'Eternal Dark' (fantastic record name) is a cool obscurity that brings to mind the balls out metal sound of Accept. This is an album of great melody, ten solid tracks boasting killer melody and bewitching vocals that slip from high pitched crytal clear wails to a lower, deep-end snarl. Pete Lovell is the archetype '80s metal frontman, backed by the searing hot guitars of Van Manen and Van Jaarsveld. The title cut kicks things off, a dark, brooding riff monster whilst the wickedly titled 'Griffons Guard The Gold' is a kick ass stomper that sees drummer Laurens Bakker shine with that stabbing plod. Hard to believe this is the bands fourth opus, these Dutch veterans certainly never got the credit they deserve, because 'Eternal...' is for the most part a mid-tempo affair that consists of some great guitar melodies (check out the groove of 'Make You Burn') and a handful of more epic rockers, especially 'Battle For The Universe' which has a NWOBHM feel. Unleash the dragons... 7.5/10