Melbourne quartet The Eternal launched their third album ‘Kartika’ on December 13th. Singer/songwriter Mark Kelson takes a little time to delineate the new album’s philosophical edge. “Kartika is a knife used in a Buddhist ritual – cutting yourself free of your materialistic and worldly bonds – moving on to something more pure. In the world of metal, where everything locks into styles and runs off a production line, I liked the idea of making an album that was real – about music, not materialistic music business.”

Departing from their doom metal roots, the sinuous up-beat riffs bear semblance to classic goth rock. “I look at it more as ‘emotive rock’ …but not emo!!! None of us are goths, but we are on the darker side. I see why people associate us with gothic rock. I’m not one that likes to keep it safe. I have come from rock, so I guess this is where I ended up. When I played doom, I was young, depressed and confused. I’m a grown man now. Dwelling in teenage angst forever is not my idea of growing as a person or musician.”

Exploring pop simplicity, The Eternal have gone so far as to dare to be pretty – the song ‘Sunshine’ is lushly Silverchairesque. “’Sunshine’ is still quite a dark and moody song. The title may indicate otherwise, but it’s about opening your eyes and seeing what is right in front of you. Plus it has that great Jimmy Page/Dave Gilmore solo, and some great vocal harmonies. It’s different for us. I believe it challenges our fans.”

Metal fans will still find lashings of harmonic minor, but without a crushing wall-of-sound aesthetic. “I just love that eastern twang. I’m a huge fan of The Tea Party and Led Zeppelin. Plus ‘Blood’ is our ‘Gates of Babylon’ by Rainbow. Obviously it’s still very metal, but due to our more rock style, you get this duality.”

The album closes with ‘Lead Me To A Brighter Day’, which begs the question – where to now? “Song writing frees me from darker demons, and this song is no exception. I try not to dwell in the negative in my day-to-day life, but ‘Kartika’ has been a great place for me to get lost in those darker elements, and come out the other end with some sense of release. I hope it can do the same for the listener.”