INTO ETERNITY SHOULD JUST BE A RECORDING PROJECT
Into Eternity — a band of which Vince and I are both huge fans — haven’t released an album since 2008’s The Incurable Tragedy, and a large chunk of the touring behind that release was done without guitarist/creative head honcho Tim Roth. They did release a pretty good single, “Sandstorm,” back in July, but concrete news of a new album has not been forthcoming. And then, somewhere along the way, vocalist/glass breaker Stu Block joined Iced Earth.
And now the band is looking for a touring vocalist to fill-in for Block:
“As everybody already knows, our long time singer Stu Block has joined Iced Earth. We are very excited for him and he is killing it on tour in Europe right now!
“In the meantime, we are still getting gig offers from promoters. This means, we are looking for a touring ONLY singer. It will not be an easy task to get someone like Stu, so it should be interesting to see who might be able to fill in!
“To audition, we’re going to need to see a video of you singing an Into Eternity song. In addition, we’d like to hear you sing our new single ‘Sandstorm.’ Justin can email you the (instrumental) version of ‘Sandstorm’ to record vocals over. Join us on Facebook or at our website www.intoeternity.net
“Contact us: [email protected]
“Good luck to everyone!”
Look, I get it. There isn’t a lot of money to be made in metal right now. I’m sure Roth HAD to sit out the band’s 2008 tour, just like I’m sure Block would have been a fool to turn down the gig in Iced Earth. It is totally understandable that these evens occurred the way they did, and I’m not trying to give the band shit.
But, speaking as a fan, I do not want to see Into Eternity without Tim Roth, and I do not want to see Into Eternity without Stu Block. MAYBE I could get it into it if original vocalist Chris Krall came back for a bit, but even that would be probably be of little interest to me, since Block was the vocalist on my two favorite Into Eternity releases (I’m especially fond of 2006’s The Scattering of Ashes).
I do, however, want a new Into Eternity album. Pretty badly, in fact.
Which is why I propose that Into Eternity becomes a recording project. Sure, why not? Make a new album and don’t tour behind it, or tour behind it only very rarely, when schedules and finances allow. I know there’s no money whatsoever in album sales, but there’s probably no money whatsoever in being dormant for long stretches of time and then touring with a line-up the fans don’t really wanna see anyway. Into Eternity without Roth and/or Block is not much better than Arsis without Jim Malone. So why bother? Are the guarantees and merch sales from those shows really gonna be worth it?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. (And by “you,” I mean “you who are also a fan of Into Eternity.” If you your response is just “This band sucks anyway,” you don’t really have any business participating in this conversation.) Would it be better to have a new Into Eternity album with no touring behind it, or would it better to have touring without the line-up most fans wanna see? Or am I over-thinking this and the band should do whatever the heck they please? I’m curious to hear what you (who are also fans of Into Eternity) think.
-AR
[via Lambgoat]
