Eternal Grey : "As Above, So Below" CD 16th December 2017 Self release.

Eternal Grey : “As Above, So Below” CD 16th December 2017 Self release.

Living in Chicago can be a blessing, and a curse simultaneously. The heavy metal waters are continuously being chummed with unmitigated, rigid bands. Although this can appear to be a wonderful problem to have, the unfortunate truth, is that many great bands are never heard.

Recently, a new EP found its way into my hands, and it definitely impressed. Eternal Grey wasn’t a band I even knew existed two weeks ago, but I know who they are now, and so do you.

Emerging from the streets of Chicago, Eternal Grey is a formidable band, with numerous influences. The most predominant genres that are commonly associated with their influences, are metalcore, and deathcore. For me, I instantly thought of Whitechapel upon listening.

Eternal Grey is made up of five youngsters. Despite their young age, the guys in Eternal Grey have had plenty of exposure to the metal world, through previous bands. The lineup is as follows; Giovanni Segura (vocals), Christian Suarez (guitar), Alexis “Yao” Avila (guitar), Kevin Rivas (bass), and John Vega (drums)

On December 16th, 2017, Eternal Grey expelled a domineering, hellacious EP, titled; ‘As Above, So Below’. This blistering, five song EP, showcases the wide array of musical influences that have been embedded in these guys. I asked Yao and Christian, what new listeners should expect from the EP, and they validated that fact.

“For every song on the EP, they’re not going to know what to expect, because every song plays as a different sub genre of metal.”

-Yao Avila

“It’s got a little bit for everybody. Some metalcore, you got some deathcore, it’s gonna vary for people on whether they like it, or not. Like on the track ‘Delusions’, that one has some Chelsea Grin sound to it.”

-Christian Suarez

Peaking my curiosity, I was interested to know how the band approaches writing songs. There’s a lot of influences gouged into Eternal Grey, so how they formulate songs intrigued me.

“The writing process was very easy. We did a lot of experimenting actually, it took us almost a whole year to release it. The ideas for the songs, I wanted to sound very dark, and evil, but the other guitarist, Christian, loves djent. We just tried to collaborate my style, with his style.”

-Yao Avila

“For me, it’s like I write a drum sample first. I can see what I’m playing, and all that, and then I transfer it to guitar. I also improvise, that’s where most of the EP came from. In my previous band, I didn’t do any of the writing. This entire EP was me kind of learning how to write. ‘Delusions’ is actually the first song I ever wrote.”

-Christian Suarez

One of the absolute best things about writing, is all the bands I get exposed to. Eternal Grey has officially made my list of pleasant surprises, and one song in particular solidified that feeling for me. ‘As Above, So Below’, is an EP that makes you want to leave your seat belt unfastened, and just hold on, but ‘Holy Death’ is the song that got me. At 2:35 into the track, it transitions into a sluggish brutality. With a few guitar squeals peppered over it, it makes ‘Holy Death’, the standout on the EP.

It’ll be interesting to see where Eternal Grey can go. The band seems hungry, focused,and incredibly unselfish. There’s one question I always end with, and it’ll tell me if a bands head is in the right spot. The question is, “what does it mean to you to be a metal fan?”

“For me, it’s like do whatever you want, and find yourself, if you truly have it in your heart.”

-Yao Avila

Listen up their songs and buy the ep on bandcamp !