Band Line Up 2024
After a demo recording in 2013 and the split EP with Gatekeeper in 2015, it was obvious that the name of ETERNAL CHAMPION was going to dominate the underground metal scene. But it was more than that. The debut full-length album “The Armor of Ire”, released in 2016 by No Remorse Records, became one of the best and most hyped albums of the last years, breaking the borders of underground traditional metal and reached a wider audience and fans of all metal genres, including also the hardcore and crossover scene. It was a fresh breath of passionate metal by fans for fans of hard and heavy music.
The impact of “The Armor of Ire” was instant. And still is, since after 4 years, the metal scene is still waiting for the next step of ETERNAL CHAMPION with high expectations. People haven’t forgotten them and their name is mentioned among the best releases of the decade. “The Armor of Ire” is already considered as a modern classic, inspiring also a new generation of epic heavy metal bands, and ETERNAL CHAMPION was carefully working on the new album after performing live in festivals like Keep It True, Up the Hammers, Frost and Fire, and also many more live shows in the United States and Europe.
When the ideas started taking shape and everyone knew that this was going to be ground-breaking, for the cover artwork it was decided to approach the only one who could visualize the sword and sorcery lyrics that are an important element in the music of ETERNAL CHAMPION. After considering the best artists existing, it was decided that with such a material, it had to be the best one, no matter what. And the best one is Ken Kelly, the artist behind iconic album covers like Kiss “Destroyer”, Rainbow “Rising” and Manowar “Kings of Metal”. For many months and while exchanging ideas, Ken Kelly presented exactly what ETERNAL CHAMPION wanted, to complete the band’s aesthetic.
Meanwhile, the American band was recording the album with the exciting feeling that “this is going to be the album we love to listen to, for now and forever”. When the album started taking its final shape, there was again a feeling that this is going to bean immortal release that will establish the legacy of ETERNAL CHAMPION in epic heavy metal for the years to come.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Sumerlands, Crypt Sermon, Cavalera Conspiracy, Power Trip, Sacred Reich), “Ravening Iron” has the massive sound that epic heavy metal needs nowadays; faithful to the past, yet fresh and exciting with ETERNAL CHAMPION’s unique identity and aesthetic in full presence. The 8tracks are glorious and uplifting, with heavy riffs, synths, a hard and pounding rhythm section, narrating stories and legends from the depths of time and fantasy.
From the opening of “A Face in the Glare” with its stormy guitars and the triumphant marching tone, to the majestic “Ravening Iron” with its addictive rhythm, guitar and vocal melodies, ETERNAL CHAMPION present songs that will stand the test of time. “Skullseeker” is going to be a live favorite with its hard, head-banging rhythm while “War at the Edge of the End” is one of the first songs completed under the name of ETERNALCHAMPION and here it is presented in its absolute form. In “Coward’s Keep” the band demonstrates everything epic metal is all about and you can also hear Jake Rogers of Visigoth on backing vocals. In the Robert E. Howard lyrically inspired “Worms of the Earth” the band is setting new standards in epic metal with its fierceness and complexity, followed by the epic synth of “The Godblade”, leading to the epic doom metal of the “Banners of Arhai”.
There is a breath-taking and game-changing aura in “Ravening Iron”. A masterful epic heavy metal album; history in the making.
Recommended for fans of Manowar, Manilla Road, Warlord, Bathory and Cirith Ungol. Cover artwork by Ken Kelly.
