Full-length, More Hate Productions
(2026)
There’s a particular kind of pleasure in discovering a metal album that refuses to sit still. One minute you’re caught in a barrage of heavy riffs, the next you’re drifting through dark keyboard passages, cinematic atmospheres, and vocal lines that seem to come from different corners of the same haunted universe. With Echoes of Eternity, Mystericon take this approach and stretch it across thirteen tracks and more than an hour of music, delivering a record that combines progressive ambition, gothic darkness, and symphonic grandeur. Formed in Ufa in 2017 by guitarist Oleg Stalker and keyboardist Aletheia, Mystericon have built their sound around the contrast between muscular metal arrangements and a more theatrical, atmospheric dimension. Released through the Italian label Ghost Record, Echoes of Eternity explores that territory with a clear interest in compositional variety. This is not an album content with throwing a few orchestral keyboards over standard metal riffs and calling it a day. The symphonic elements, synthesizers, samples, and cinematic touches are woven into the arrangements, helping to create a world that feels dark, dramatic, and occasionally reminiscent of an epic fantasy soundtrack.
The guitars, naturally, remain at the heart of the operation. The riffs have the necessary weight, while the more intricate passages reveal a progressive mindset that goes beyond straightforward verse-chorus songwriting. Mystericon enjoy shifting gears, introducing unexpected turns, changing rhythmic patterns, and opening up melodic passages when the music needs room to breathe. The result is an album that keeps moving, even if its ambitious approach occasionally asks the listener to pay close attention. One of the record’s strongest assets is its sense of contrast. The heavier sections provide the punch, while the keyboards add a layer of melancholy and cinematic depth. There’s a gothic sensibility running through the album, but it never completely overshadows the metal foundation. Instead, the two elements feed off each other, creating a sound that can be both aggressive and strangely evocative. Fans who appreciate the meeting point between progressive metal, symphonic arrangements, and darker gothic moods should find plenty to explore here.
The vocal arrangements also deserve a mention. Mystericon draw on baritone, soprano, and extreme vocal styles, giving the music several different expressive colours. This variety suits the album’s theatrical character, helping to distinguish its more dramatic moments from its heavier, more abrasive passages. When the different approaches complement each other, they add genuine depth to the compositions and reinforce the sense that the band are trying to tell a story through sound rather than simply stacking riffs on top of one another. Instrumentally, the rhythm section provides a dependable foundation for the album’s frequent changes in direction. The drums bring power and precision, keeping the more complex passages grounded without stripping them of their progressive character. The guitars remain incisive even when the arrangements become denser, and the solos offer welcome flashes of melodic expression. There’s enough technical ability on display to satisfy the prog-minded listener, but the record’s appeal ultimately comes from the way that technique serves the atmosphere rather than becoming an end in itself.
Across the thirteen tracks, titles such as “Angel,” “Demons,” “The Light of Infinity,” and “Eternity Awaits” hint at the album’s grand thematic scope. “The Philosopher” and “Autumn Grief” suggest a more introspective side, while “The Punisher” promises a heavier dose of dramatic force. The tracklist gives Echoes of Eternity the feel of a journey through different emotional and sonic landscapes, with melody and darkness acting as its guiding forces. Of course, an album of this length and ambition is bound to have a few rough edges. At times, the abundance of ideas, layers, and stylistic shifts can make the overall experience feel slightly crowded. Some passages could benefit from a little more restraint, while a handful of transitions might have a greater impact if the arrangements allowed certain melodies to linger for longer. There are moments when the progressive and symphonic ingredients compete for attention rather than fully locking together. These are relatively minor reservations, however, and they come with the territory when a band chooses to aim high rather than play it safe.
What ultimately makes Echoes of Eternity worth the investment is Mystericon’s willingness to build something more elaborate than a collection of isolated metal tracks. The album has a recognisable identity, shaped by the interplay of heavy guitars, theatrical vocals, dark keyboards, and an appetite for musical exploration. It may not reinvent progressive or gothic metal, but originality is not always about inventing a new language; sometimes it is about finding a convincing way to speak an established one. For those of us who still love getting lost in an album, following recurring moods, unexpected instrumental turns, and melodies that reveal themselves after repeated listens, Echoes of Eternity offers a rewarding experience. Mystericon demonstrate solid compositional instincts and a clear artistic direction, even if a little more editing could have made some sections hit harder.
In the end, Echoes of Eternity is an ambitious and atmospheric release that balances progressive complexity with gothic melancholy and symphonic drama. It has its occasional excesses, but its strengths outweigh them. Put on your headphones, turn up the volume, and let Mystericon take you somewhere between a shadowy cathedral, a forgotten fantasy kingdom, and a rehearsal room full of metalheads who clearly have more than a few ideas to get off their chests.
Toxic Trace
Rating: 4/5
Tracklist:
1. Angel
2. Escapism
3. Demons
4. Dead Leaf
5. The Philosopher
6. The Light of Infinity
7. The Hesychast
8. Eternity Awaits
9. In My Hands
10. The Autumn Grief
11. Where the Earth and the Sky
12. The Punisher
13. Everlasting Flame (Kreator cover)
Line-up:
Ivan Filippov - Drums
Oleg Stalker - Bass, Guitars
Pavel Globus - Guitars
Aletheia - Keyboards
Bulat Danilov - Vocals
Daria Nevskaya - Vocals (extreme)
Links:
Bandcamp
YouTube
Spotify
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