Darkened, Thrash-tinged and extremely well-executed Power / Heavy Metal from the land of original Santa Claus, Finland… anyone? This 5-piece Finnish act was formed in 2008, and since then they have released one demo and a couple of EPs on their own – their latest one being this 3-track effort called "Under The Spell". Vocalist Jani Perta’s life-long curious (morbid) fascination for horror stories / movies is what has made DIRGE ETERNAL quite an unusual freak among other Finnish Metal bands nowadays, which truly works for their advantage for giving them a bit more special sound – most importantly, setting them apart from the masses quite a bit. The opening track, ‘The Slaughterhouse’ is a pompous, very riff-orientated, heavily thrashy and amazingly heavy cut – inspired the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. A great choice for an opening tune for sure. The title track ‘Under The Spell’ of this EP comes next, also turning out to be a somewhat pompous, sort of KING DIAMOND inspired track, lyrics in it being excerpts from the New World Pictures film, "Warlock". The last song on this 3-track effort, is the whole EP’s most epic and symphonic tune, titled ‘Within The Dark’, which I also happen to like most. KING DIAMOND’s magical ghost (not vocal-wise that much though) is yet again haunting behind this track in question – lyrics containing some excerpts taken from the "Silent Hill" movie, and this song really starts sending cold shivers down to people’s necks right after the song has reached the 3:03 min mark. The song is just ominous, dark and nicely diabolic by its atmosphere, and there’s also a few really kick-ass melodies wrapped around this song as well. DIRGE ETERNAL have found a somewhat successful concept for themselves, and I think by this EP alone, I have found one of my next favorite Finnish Metal bands that I will keep my eyes on in the future. Band contact: www.dirge-eternal.com