An English one-man project, Ewigkeit has undergone quite a journey since its inception in 1994. Starting life as a black metal project, it gradually evolved into a more electronically inclined act, signing to Earache Records in the process, and eventually evolved into a completely different band, namely The Bombs Of Enduring Freedom.
Being the product of James ‘Mr Fog’ Fogarty, the returned Ewigkeit – this being the first release in six years – overlaps with several of his other projects. As the founding member of The Meads Of Aspodel – an accolade often forgotten – and the man behind the humorous project Jaldaboath, it’s unsurprising that eccentricity and incongruity often guides the way (one example: Time Storm, earnest and dreamy in tone, yet inexplicably featuring what sounds like a sample from Pac-Man).
Mr Fog’s black metal project, Old Forest, remains a point of reference, while the electronic touches of The Bombs Of Enduring Freedom remain evident. Still, for the most part the Ewigkeit of today inhabit an epic black metal (or at least BM-related) domain, utilising both growled and clean vocals, slow melodies and fast percussion with stirring, escapist and occasionally baffling results. Another example? Closing the record with a dub reggae version of Burzum’s Det Som Engang Var!
