The Night Eternal shines darkly with the heavy metal/goth rock hybrid of Cold Velvet.
Release date: August 21, 2026 | Metal Blade Records | Bandcamp | Instagram
I don’t know what it is about it, but one sound that’s absolute catnip for me is bands blending good classic heavy metal with post-punky goth rock sensibilities. Ground zero for that was the bitterly missed In Solitude‘s outstanding Sister, which hit me like a ton of bricks upon release. Since then, any band that takes a crack at fusing old school metal riffing with goth atmospheres and gloom has my appreciation at least, if not full love. I mean, my playlist would be much poorer without such highlights as Unto Others‘ Mana and, in a doomier context, my 2025 favorite album The Spin by Messa.
Come 2026 and their jump up to Metal Blade Records, Germany’s The Night Eternal is the latest goth rock/metal hybrid to catch my eye and trigger that old craving. Admittedly, I missed out on their first couple albums (that oversight will certainly be rectified), but a couple singles off their new album Cold Velvet had me hooked immediately. Cold Velvet is packed to the gills with glorious metal riffing counterbalanced off eerie clean guitars, a cloying sense of melancholy, and deep crooning vocals that are just perfect for this kind of material. Once again, some goth-tinged metal classicists got me.
From the opening salvo of “Where This World Ends”, though, there is one key to The Night Eternal‘s sound which helps set them apart; these guys understand that they don’t have to be exclusively dour. As contrast to the constant dejection of a band like Unto Others (which, again, I do love), Cold Velvet has more of a confrontational, epic quality to its riffing that makes for a more engaging, and dare I say welcoming listen. “Eurydice (Don’t Look Back)” takes its subtitle and runs with one hell of a singalong chorus that’s all but guaranteed to lodge in a listener’s brain among all the most elite of earworms. The nifty little slide guitar intro for “Caught in a Spell” gives way to a galloping, but not too heavy, thrust that wouldn’t feel out of place among Iron Maiden‘s Seventh Son era, albeit with Ricardo Baum’s rich vocal tones instead of the ol’ air raid siren we all love.
The Night Eternal doesn’t necessarily change their sound much across Cold Velvet, but there’s a great sense of subtle variety that makes every song a little bit distinct while also making for an entirely cohesive full listen. “The Veins of Time” has a more subdued, quiet vocal hook that (for reasons I can not explain) makes me think of a Mr. Mister album track, while Rob Richter and Henry Käseberg seize the moment to pour on some of Cold Velvet‘s most outstanding guitar heroics. The singing strikes back on “The Watcher of the Burning Veil”, building to a dramatic multitracked crescendo that’s all but certain to get crowds wailing along live, while Aleister Präkelt’s drumming gives “Shape of Sorrow” an excellent sense of driving, forward momentum. Everything comes to a head with the more progressively written mini-epic “Dance on Crimson Ground”, which brings Cold Velvet to a grand conclusion.
The instrumental work is impeccable across Cold Velvet, well within that great heavy metal tradition of showboating just a little bit while putting the song first and foremost, and it pays off. The Night Eternal knows their way around a hook, and honestly, any single track across Cold Velvet is liable to be stuck in your head the rest of the day after a listen. It helps that the production is excellent, giving plenty of breathing room to the gothy arpeggios while the metal riffs churn away, and Baum’s vocals are always given just the right amount of space. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of many of my favorite 80’s metal albums, sounding huge and almost live, just with a sheen of clarity.
Cold Velvet, despite its general sense of gloom, is an absolute delight of an album and probably some of my favorite traditional heavy metal in quite some time below its gothic dressings. For all the mood and darkness permeating every track, The Night Eternal still remembers to deliver the goods in spades when it comes to great riffs and catchy choruses. I could definitely see Cold Velvet being the sort of album to win over people who have been put off by the overwhelming misery of other similar bands, and who are still looking to slam a couple beers in their denim battle vests while solemnly strolling through graveyards in the night and contemplating. Sure, there’s still plenty of darkness to obsess over, but doesn’t it sit a little better when you can rock out too?
Band photo by Nona Limmen
