FemMetal was invited to the listening session of The Eternal’s upcoming album titled “Obscured Horizons”. We also got the chance to interview bass player Niclas Etelävuori and drummer Jan Rechberger about the release, their plans for the future and of course, women in metal.
Benedetta
Hi Niclas, hi Jan. Welcome to FemMetal. How are you doing today?
Niclas Etelävuori
Great, we had the listening session, and apparently nobody left throwing stuff or crying, so everybody looked happy.
Jan Rechberger
Yeah, all good, all good. It’s summertime here in Finland, and finally it’s nice for a very short time, but let’s enjoy it. So yeah, the album is ready and soon out to the world, so that’s a great feeling.
Benedetta
Before listening to it, I thought that “Obscured Horizon” was a dark place that it’s negative, instead I think it brings also something positive. Do you think that maybe reclaiming this inner power is something that we struggle with in 2026?
Jan Rechberger
Yeah, I guess so, and you know about the positivity and negativity factor, as Mark said very well at the round table previously, is that we are 50+ men, we’re doing pretty okay. Life is not all dark places anymore for us, like it’s not that gloomy even though it’s pretty gloomy here in Finland for most of the year. Mark is coming from Australia, it’s not that gloomy so like yeah, at least weather-wise. The lyrical questions of course you would have to point to Mark to get like a proper answer, but as far as I know is that we are finding light at the end of the tunnel after all these years.
Niclas Etelävuori
No, it’s a yin and yang thing.
Jan Rechberger
Yeah, it must be a yin and yang.
Benedetta
That’s also a great approach. So I really enjoyed the first two singles even before listening to the album, and they represent the album very well. Were you fighting for those songs to be singles?
Jan Rechberger
Not really, Mark had pretty early on he had an idea that “Lament for the Hollow” is going to be the opening song for the album, and he also wanted that to be the first single and I think it’s pretty good choice. It wraps up everything that the music and the album is about. “Existing to Expire” is a very obvious choice because it’s probably one of the catchiest and most simple form structure song. That was pretty clear. “Colours Fade” is also catchy, but it’s also moody in a different way, and it may reveal a slightly poppier side of the album too, so that was intentional in that sense to get that.
I personally wanted that to be a single; there was some debate, Mark and Richie they wanted “Obscured Horizons” to be one of the singles. But I felt that we gotta have “Colors Fade”, that’s sort of for me a better choice for a single it’s less proggy in that sort of progginess way. Then “Harmony Breaks” being one of the proggiest songs on the album but also one of the catchiest ones. It’s also a little bit faster, like “Existing” is a little bit more up-tempo. Alongside “Colors Fade” and “Lament” we wanted something a little bit faster this time for the single songs too. We are 50+ guys we don’t really fight.
Benedetta
You are so talented and so experienced in composing, playing and performing. Do you adapt your experience from Amorphis into The Eternal, or is it like two completely separate worlds?
Jan Rechberger
I think it adapts of course, because experience is a pretty clear source of inspiration to begin with. But there are certain things that we possibly can’t do with Amorphis, that we can do with The Eternal and vice versa. In that sense they are two separate bands and worlds, but they’re not that far from each other. It’s mutually beneficial to operate between both and the inspirational things are equally aligned between both, so it’s not that different I guess.
Niclas Etelävuori
For me, every project is their own thing. I have experience with so many different bands that I played with for a long time. I know what to expect when we start to record, but then every recording is a bit different. I try to have an open mind and not think about too much what I’ve done before, and try to remember what I’ve done so I don’t do again the same thing that I did on the previous record. But I keep on doing that all the time pretty much.
Jan Rechberger
Yeah, of course, you need to trust your gut feeling and your instinct, if it doesn’t really make you feel like anything, then it’s probably not good.
Niclas Etelävuori
It has to feel good, yeah, I asked Tim Palmer “How do you know when it’s perfect?”, he said, “You have to think that it’s the best thing you’ve ever done after you’ve done it.”
Jan Rechberger
After several years, you can look back, and then you might not agree with that, but it’s a different thing. We’re making music because we love it, if that moment comes that it’s not exciting, then you really should maybe consider something else.
Niclas Etelävuori
There have been bands before that I couldn’t feel anything anymore, so I just left them. It’s not right for the band, and it’s not right for me to continue with something that I don’t feel anymore.
Benedetta
So, and also, you’re in partnership with Reigning Phoenix Music for the release of the album, and also for the EP. How has this partnership made The Eternal better, how are they supporting your work?
Jan Rechberger
I think they’re supporting us in any way they possibly can and sometimes it’s not easy either because like we are not very well known. There’s of course some frustration and stuff but labels do an awesome job and we’re happy to have such great collaborators to work with, and people who have a long time experience in the music business especially in the metal music.
Benedetta
The four of you in the band do get together sometimes, right?
Jan Rechberger
Sometimes. The last time we played shows here in Finland together was last year, and then we played some shows in Australia. Unfortunately Niclas couldn’t join us so then we have a stunt guy, but we of course try to get together when when there’s a production usually. Either Mark and Richie are coming here or I’m going to Australia or something like that. These days you can produce music pretty easily remotely because of everybody’s using the same software and the internet connection is fast, so it’s easy to bounce back ideas and projects.
But at some point you need to be in the same room to make the sort of decisions that are based on instinct and it has to be mutually experienced, otherwise it doesn’t work. The light bulb moments do not happen over the internet unfortunately, not yet at least. There will be shows that will happen and when we start working on a new record at some point obviously, but it’s of course a bit of a challenge because they live 12 000 kilometers away. Logistically is a bit challenging sometimes and also touring plans or even taking a photo or doing a video shoot.
Niclas Etelävuori
Sometimes we have to organize everything we need for the next meeting.
Benedetta
Is it possible in 2026 to reach some equality between men and women in heavy metal?
Jan Rechberger
Absolutely, especially these days it’s been very great to notice that there’s a lot of great female musicians. A very good example being right now is Anika Nilles with Rush, which is just amazing. The fact that they took a female drummer was remarkable because everybody would maybe assume that they take Mike Mangini or Mike Portnoy or some like prog monster behind the kit. You see the female musicians deliver amazing performance every day online these days, that didn’t happen back in the days. There’s quite a lot. In the past it’s been mostly singers of course, with a few exceptions like with some all-female bands and stuff, but these days it’s all over the place, and it’s getting more and more. Yes, I do feel that there’s way more equality these days than there used to be.
Niclas Etelävuori
I guess that’s a metal thing than in other genres.
Jan Rechberger
The metal or rock world is being still a bit male-dominated.
Niclas Etelävuori
But there are big female fronted bands like Nightwish and Arch Enemy…
Jan Rechberger
In general I feel that there’s there’s been a positive switch to to the direction that there is way more female musicians in the metal domain. In the pop and RnB or whatever it’s been like that already like for years and years. But for metal yeah it’s getting better.
Benedetta
To finish the interview, I wanted to ask you a fun question. So if “Obscured Horizons” was a soundtrack for a film or a movie, what do you think the story would be?
Jan Rechberger
Oh, that’s a good question. It would be an Italian western spaghetti movie. A lonely gunman is wandering around the desert with tumbleweed rolling, his horse is dying, he’s got a cactus needle in his finger, but there is something in the horizon.
Benedetta
Awesome, guys, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else that you want to add to our readers?
Jan Rechberger
Well, keep listening to music and keep supporting bands, seeing the shows, and keeping the thing alive because that’s what it takes.
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