The Eternal
TM - Hi, this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix, and we are here with Mark Kelson from The Eternal. Thank you for having this interview with us today, we appreciate it.
MK - Thank you.
TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour with Amorphis?
MK - Our new album "Obscured Horizons" comes out on the 18th of September, and we go on tour with Amorphis on the 23rd of September. We will be playing some of the new album. Amorphis are on the bill, so hopefully we will be playing an hour set. We will be playing our old catalogue, and some of our new record. When we hit the stage, those songs will be played for the first time, and it is really exciting.
TM - Do you have any pre-show rituals?
MK - I just keep my s*** together and warm up my voice backstage. I make sure I am in the right headspace to give the best I can.
TM - What can fans expect from your new album "Obscured Horizons"?
MK - We have had our line-up pretty solid since our last album "Skinwalker". For this album, every band member has produced the most contributive work we have ever done. Every band member has contributed musically with demos songs and the arrangements. We produced, Mixed, and recorded our albums. We are all sound engineers as well, and our new album is a lot quicker and a lot tighter. I think there is a lot more diversity in the material.
TM - What is your favourite song off your new album "Obscured Horizons" that you are looking forward to playing live?
MK - I think the second song on our new album "Existing to Expire"will go down well live because it is up tempo. But if you choose a heavy song, I think "Lament From The Hallow" would be a fun song to play live.
TM - What was your writing and recording process for your album "Obscured Horizons"?
MK - A lot of the writing started before we released our last album "Skinwalker" in 2021 or 2022, but we were negotiating our record deal. While we were waiting for that album to come out, we were already demoing our new record "Existing to Expire". The initial process begins with all the band members submitting demos to me, because I have to sing on them. Two of our members live over here, and two of our members live in Finland. We work remotely at the start of the process, then the demos come together. I will go there, or they will come here, but this time I went there for six weeks. Jan and I did a lot of work on shaping those demos. Then Richie and I worked together in Melbourne. Jan and Niclas worked together in Finland. The mixing was done here in Melbourne, and then we got together on tour, and it works remarkably well.
TM - Who designed your album cover for "Obscured Horizons"?
MK - My girlfriend designed the album cover. She is an illustrator and a Digital Designer. I also have a background in design myself, and I did the last album cover, but this time I wanted a different perspective. We worked together on the concepts, but she did the final illustration. It was done by hand, not A.I. I am into this geometrical thing. I was a designer back in the day, so I wanted a geometrical aspect to the album cover.
TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs, what band would you choose, what song would you choose, and would it be in your style or their style?
MK - I would love to hear Evergrey do one of our songs. I love their production and their vocals. I was thinking about doing a song by the Russian group t.A.T.u. I have one of the songs in mind that we should cover, but I would love it if they covered one of our songs.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
MK - Hopefully we run into all of you at the Amorphis show, and you all take time to dig into our new album "Obscured Horizons". We are quite proud of it, and it is coming out on Reigning Phoenix Music on September 18th. The Eternal and Amorphis tour kicks off soon, and we will be playing some new stuff. We will have a bunch of Merch on board, and we hope you enjoy the show we bring to you. Let's Rock.
TM - Thank you for having this interview with us today; we appreciate it.
MK - Thank you.