Tag Archives: sword & sorcery

Underground Sounds: Eternal Champion – The Armor of Ire

Label: No Remorse Records
Band: Eternal Champion
Origin: United States

This American high fantasy inspired band brings back the loincloth wearing, sword wielding hero of old fantasy books, with a woman with big assets clutching his leg. Yes, there’s definitely a reminder on the cover of this new album by Eternal Champion, that reminds you of times when fantasy was mcuh simpler.

The direct inspiration for the bandname is the fantasy of Michael Moorcock, with an entity named the Eternal Champion living through time and ages in the multiverse. It’s the archetype for epic fantasy and its therefor not surprising to hear music akin to Manowar and Sabaton on this debut by the band from Austin ‘The Armor of Ire’.

The sound is akin to a mixture of the pulsing doom riffs you’ll hear in some of the classic heavy metal bands and the soaring, clear articulated vocals of power metal. It’s a specific niche in which Eternal Warrior finds itself, but opener ‘I Am The Hammer’ is made of that legendary stuff you want from a band like this. Catchy, muscular and strong the song immediately takes you into the realm of Eternal Warrior.

Everything sounds like it is from another time and era in heavy metal. The sharp bitten vocals of Jason Tarpey are to me the most typical, offering a mixture between Fish and Joey Dimachio and Eric Adams. The band seems to take the background to the epic vocals, with little story telling through the guitars. They mostly offer the driven sound, that gives it that feel of grandeur.

I’m not putting the name Fish in there without reason, the versatility of the vocals really creates that unique atmosphere that makes me instantly love this band. The track ‘Invoker’ is the best example of that I think, totally expressing what I love about the voice of Tarpey. There’s an upsite to the static natur of the music. Many people who play Dungeons & Dragons or other games featuring high fantasy, may be looking for exactly this record as their soundtrack to glory. It’s repetitive nature in the music makes it great material. On the other hand, it allows the part of the story teller, the bard for their vocalist.

You just got to love this album. If you don’t you’ve never truly understood the charm of sword wielding, muscular macho men, dragons and having women clutching at your legs. To Battle!