When Nothing Remains - Echoes of Eternal Night

When Nothing Remains is a death/doom band from Sweden who formed in 2010. They had a hiatus in 2019 but returned to the scene in 2021. I first fell in love with the Gothic death/doom side of the genre when I discovered bands like My Dying Bride, Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy and Draconian 20 years ago. Having elements of these bands, When Nothing Remains intrigued me when I discovered them with their third album, “In Memoriam.” I’m very glad they are back!

The fourth full-length album from Sweden's When Nothing Remains called “Echoes of Eternal Night,” is a modern day version of those legendary bands and albums of yester year. If every album was this good, the world might actually be worth two shits in a bucket. 

Every element is on point across the album's four song, 41 minute runtime. The compositions don't flow around any certain element but instead swirl together as one massive sound. But it doesn't sound like any impenetrable wall but instead a flowing (slow) hurricane that brings with it a dichotomy of elements that interact and interplay with each other seamlessly.   

The album also has four bonus songs which add an extra 20 minutes to the run time. Normally, I don’t mention bonus songs in my reviews or factor them into an album’s score because, well, they are a bonus and don’t matter from a professional standpoint. However, I want to mention they are solid songs, particularly “In The Woods of Darkest Despair.” Special note: it seems if you want the bonus tracks, you should purchase the CD as the vinyl is ‘just’ the actual album.

But that’s enough. The four songs that make up the actual album blow away anything they have done in the past. The opening song, “The Grim Reapers Tears,” opens with elegant keys and subtle soundscapes. The song is methodical, taking its time for every second of music to find its place—and I savored every last note that found its way into my ears. The vocals offer up spoken word, wicked death growls, and mesmerizing clean singing. Each style is perfectly placed within the composition, the music complimenting each version of a passage created. The chorus is HUGE. Oh and it is catchy. Catchy and huge choruses in doom metal? Yes, it exists and When Nothing Remains doesn’t sacrifice a drop of their sound in the process. 

“A Glimmer of Hope,” offers just that with the beginning offering the humble beginnings of what the song offers. The heavy guitar tone drops bleak distortion on top of clean keys, as the drums dance around the song, holding it up while also leading the ears to discover what exists under the song’s many layers. The bass guitar and the double bass of the drums keep the intensity up, aggression never too far from the slower elements brought by the genre. More catchy cleans can be found here but always one side of the coin, with the growls taking the other half. Near the end the song grows a little symphonic without being bombastic and overtaking the song. Sound bites from 20th century zen philosopher Alan Watts, taken from a lecture about his thoughts on death fill the music with a poignant approach. Interestingly enough, another doom metal band, Facade, used the longer version of his speech in the last song of their album “The Eternal Dance.” The last minute or so of this song is beautiful, sweeping violin mixing with double bass to create a mood that is both heavy and light, tragic and hopeful.

“Everything Ends,” is about as somber as one would expect; the piano certainly lays down an emotive atmosphere that grows as the keys swell to epic proportions. This song has such a classic doom metal approach: slow but world building with a lot happening within but done so in a way that is deceptively simple and not convoluted. The death growls are at their most potent in this song and I can feel the emotion emanating off them in waves. More so than the other songs, this one feels like one big movement that I found very convincing and encompassing. 

The final song, “A Ceaseless Rain,” dancing in the storm with keys sprinkling down upon the poetry of the spoken word. Big riffs drop like thunder, a deluge of doom that sweeps away everything in its path. I like the break in the middle passage that sees the keys and spoken word returning. It transitions expertly into another passage that boils over with aggression, seething upon the edge. The ever impressive Gogo Melone provides vocals as well and the pairing couldn’t be more perfect. Be sure to check out her own doom metal band, Aeonian Sorrow and their EP “From The Shadows,” that was released earlier in the year. 

When Nothing Remains is an impressive return for the band as it is worth the nearly decade long way for new music. With the actual album being obviously impressive and the four bonus songs work the time, I can’t imagine any fan of the band being left wanting but every doom fan needs to check “Echoes of Eternal Night,” out.  

Rating: Excellent