EP Review: Eternal Darkness by Soul Incursion (Self Released)

Finland’s death metal band, Soul Incursion, are all set to release their first EP titled Eternal Darkness on the 15th December 2023.

Hailing from Helsinki, Soul Incursion was formed in early 2020, when guitarists Oskar and Henri started writing songs in the vein of old school death-metal bands like Pestilence, Death and Demolition Hammer, highlighting a penchant for an unrelentingly heavy, catchy riffage. The band’s first studio recording, the “Infernal End / Intracranial Form” single was released in late 2021 and found the Finns intertwining fast thrash-inspired riffs with a decimating death-metal attack and some catchy melodies.

With new member Arttu Turunen behind the drum kit, Soul Incursion returned to the studio to record five songs for a new EP and if their previous single suggested the path they might tread, this new EP confirms it and shows that Soul Incursion know how to write some serious and potent death-metal, described as “the aural equivalent of a war tank marching into a battlefield”.

Soul Incursion are Aleksi Mattila on bass & vocals, Henri Hirvonen and Oskar Bruun on guitars and Arttu Turunen on drums.

Eternal Darkness comes with a hefty 5 tracks on it weighing in at around 22 minutes in total. It comes at you quickly, stamping authority in a flurry of riffs and drums with opener and title track, Eternal Darkness. Deep and guttaral vocals echo through the relentless assault of death metal riffing. The drums and bass are great, setting the foundation for the vocals and riffs to stand upon. Occasional switches in tempo or addtional lead guitars keep the song feeling fresh and the short but impactiful solo is excellent as well. Soul Incursion weren’t kidding when they said they play old school death metal.

That is exactly what this is. Metal with few frills, just a pit destroying assault of well played, well structured music that will raise your adrenaline and feel familiar, yet very welcome. I guess in a world currently obsessed with being as progressive as possible, with being “core” or “post” it’s quite nice to hear something that is just heavy fucking metal. Soul Incursion bring that but being fast and heavy only isn’t going to get you very far, you still need to do it well, and they do. While it is predominantly a ferocious assault on your senses, there is a lot more to Eternal Darkness.

The foundation is of course thick and heavy bass, speed drumming and riffs but these little tempo switches that keep cropping up work wonders. Dreams To Destroy uses them expertly and it just means that even if just for short bursts, you suddenly find the writhing beast of a track hits you with a wave of catchiness, a bit of groove. The intro riffing to Abysmal Flames stands out as well and really draws you into the song but hats off to Screams Through Chasms, probably my favourite tarck on Eternal Darkness. I love the filthiness of the verses, then the bridge that suddenly drops the tempo, gives us a little solo or instrumental before transforming back into a fast and fiery verse again. Love those little change ups.

Leads guitar work really does help the tracks stand out too with Dreams To Destroy having an absolutely banging section of guitar solo, mini transitions and drum fills. It sounds so fucking good. It comes back for more at the end of the track too, just to make sure it leaves a lasting mark, and it does. Abysmal Flames has one of my favourite solos on Eternal Darkness. As good as that solo is , I really love how well it transitions back into the heavy stuff from the solo too.

The over 6 minute long closer of this impressive debut, Perpetual Wasteland really brings some of Soul Incursion’s more adventurous work. Some of the soloing, going for the higher tones, drawn out notes, is so engaging, with differently styled solos or instrumental sections acting like choruses seperating slower, chunky verses where those dark and deep guttarals really sound about as demonic as you could hope for. Being longer, the band get to flex a few extra creativity muscles and we see clever use of fading in for the intro and plenty of strong riffs, clever drumming and a really well crafted flow to the song.

All things that show Soul Incursion have more than enough talent and skill to make a mark. Eternal Darkness brings heaviness in a traditional death metal style hitting hard with big riffs, dark vocals and songs that make you want to start a pit wherever you are right now. I’m on a train, and it’s packed. This could get interesting.

Grab your copy of Eternal Darkness from the band, here.

Soul Incursion Links

Facebook – Bandcamp – Instagram – YouTube