Eternal Black Announce Breakup
Brooklyn doomers Eternal Black played their last show this past Saturday. I didn’t go. I wanted to go. Family stuff. It happens. Eternal Black were the last indoor show I saw, as it happens. That was in Jan. 2020 (review here), at Ode to Doom in Manhattan. Seems like a lifetime ago, because it was. I’ll miss them as a band, and not just because their drummer, one Joe Wood — soon to relocate to South Carolina, or so the rumor has it — is one of the finest individuals I’ve ever met, in music or out of it. In fact, all three of these guys are stellar in my experience. I had forgotten about the thing at Doom Fest where guitarist Ken Wohlrob had to drive me back to the venue to get my backpack. He probably could’ve told me to screw off, but, you know, didn’t. Ace individual. And every time I wear my Obelisk sweatpants with the elephant on them, I think about how it was Eternal Black bassist Hal Miller who did the design.
Eternal Black‘s 2019 second album, Slow Burn Suicide (review here), put a particularly Northeastern spin on traditional doom, adding a bit of concrete confrontationalism to the mix that set them apart from the hordes of Sabbath/The Obsessed worshipers (nothing against them), while refining the songwriting from their impressive 2017 debut, Bleed the Days (review here). I had been expecting a third full-length to serve as a definitive moment. So much for that, I guess.
They were kind enough to mark their passing on social media, so here it is for however much this might pass for posterity:
THE FINAL WORD: A big heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to the final Eternal Black show this past Saturday in Brooklyn. It meant a lot to us to have everyone there and to know that after six years we weren’t just shouting into the void. To have so many old friends and fans in the same room one last time was a special moment for us. We tried to give off every last bit of energy in our bones and the response back from everyone was phenomenal. A big roar to our brothers in Clothesline (pay attention to what they’ll be bringing), our new friends in KIND (a bombastically good live show) who somehow we never got to share a stage with until Saturday, and the mighty Geezer who we’ve always looked up to as one of the true heavyweights. You guys are all examples of why it was an honor to be a part of this scene.
Six years is a long time music-wise. But we feel like we did a lot with that time. Our music is exactly what we wanted it to be and we still stand by every note. It allowed us to connect with fans from around the globe and to play shows with bands that we considered compatriots, heroes, and forefathers. Most importantly, we got to bow out when we were still proud of what we had achieved as a band and could still call one another brothers. There was no big argument or musical differences. Life just changed and we had to go with it. But we can look back on the last six years with absolute pride. We were a DOOM band and we played it as ugly as we possibly could.
Thank you to everyone who supported Eternal Black in a larger way: Joe Kelly and Kol Marshall who produced all our music and made it sound bigger; Vadim Dyadyuk of MIBK Silk Screeners who served as de facto advisor in all things; JJ Koczan of The Obelisk who, despite us almost causing the loss of his laptop at Doom Fest back in 2016, helped spread the myth; and finally all the bands we called friends and brothers: Geezer, FALSE GODS, Shadow Witch, Matte Black, Clamfight, Thunderbird Divine, Clothesline, Solace, Curse the Son, Clouds Taste Satanic, Begotten, River Cult, and Leeds Point. We’ll miss playing with you all, but now we get to enjoy just watching you throw down.
Hail!
Ken
Eternal Black was:
Ken Wohlrob – guitar/vocals
Hal Miller – bass
Joe Wood – drums
http://eternalblackdoom.com
https://eternalblack.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/blackhanddoom
https://instagram.com/eternalblackdoom/
https://soundcloud.com/eternalblackdoom
