The Eternal Mystery: Rediscovered

Armageddon is an interesting Serbian project formed by and consisting of opera singers and performers from the Serbian National Theatre of Novi Sad. They were formed in 1987 and fancy themselves as quite possible the first symphonic-based metal act in Europe (if not the world...) through abject experimentation on a virtuoso level. Or so they say, anyway. They toiled away in some amount of obscurity, never hitting the live circuit until 2012 (quiiiiiite a ways from the starting point...) and only recently unearthing and remastering their debut release...

As one can expect with a sound this old-fashioned in itself, the material presented on "Eternal Mystery Rediscovered" is an interesting mix of post-70s prog and riff-driven hard rock/metal with plenty of emphasis on melodic tendencies and a certain level of musical storytelling. As is, the work bases much of its sound off smooth songwriting and harmonic prettiness by way of guitar leads and keyboard lines, and while calling the sound "symphonic" is a slight misnomer given how psychedelic most of the synth work seems to be, I can still give Armageddon a fair amount of props if this really was among the first of its kind (and to be more exact, it wasn't until recently that the term "symphonic" was actually based on legit orchestration rather than keyboards, as has been the case many many many a time before...) and even the best styles start out a bit uneven and wavering back and forth in spite of, or even a result of, that. However, even with its most limiting appeal, it's still a pleasant listen that offers plentiful amounts of melody, creative songwriting and a fun, adventurous atmosphere all throughout its rather aged stylistic appeal (what can I say? "Eternal..." is almost 30 years old and, despite a remastering, it does show its wrinkles here and there).

There are more than a few moments where the music at hand glows quite brightly; the neo-classicaly-flavored fast break about halfway through "No Advice" or the vast majority of the almost power-metal-like "Black Swan Rider", to name a few examples, which in turn makes for a somewhat embracing listen. It's also fairly noticeable that while the group as a whole may have had a general idea on where to go with this seemingly newfound sound, their sheer level of enthusiasm is able to make the songs work the best way they can be. It's fine with me if a band is able to make simply one or two things work really well if the rest of an album isn't able to keep up or maintain its sense of strength, and with that very scenario I was able to walk away from "Eternal..." relatively pleased and entertained, for beyond its roughness it's still a good album that just had a ways to go in order to be a thundering beast it was, I don't doubt, meant to be. Ah well...hindsight, and all that.

In the end, "Eternal Mystery Rediscovered" is a captivating first piece in the European power/symphonic metal movement and has its moments of grandeur amidst its own restrictions, age-based and otherwise. I would definitely recommend this remaster to fan(atics) of the two main styles this seems to have inspired in its own way, if for no other reason than to expose some of its more trippy roots. But if nothing else, that could be its one lone purpose.