Review of the Album Called a Virgin and a Whore By Finnish Melodic Death Metal Band Eternal Tears of Sorrow

1. Aurora Borealis
2. Heart of Wilderness
3. Prophetian
4. Fall of Man
5. The River Flows Frozen
6. The Last One for Life
7. Sick, Dirty and Mean (original song by German band Accept)
8. Blood of Hatred
9. Aeon

Eternal Tears of Sorrow is a melodic, symphonic death metal band from Finland that deserves praise and respect for their work. Their 4^th studio album called A Virgin and a Whore released in 2001 is an example of a fine work that once again shows that the country of Finland is one of the elite heavy metal nations of the world. The first song Aurora Borealis has a definite symphonic influence in it because of the keyboards that are mixed in with the guitar. The song is about someone who wonders whether his brave father will venture out into the darkness of the night to do battle against flames and other forces and emerge victorious. The groovy song Heart of Wilderness has always been one of my favorite songs from this band. This song is about a person that is after what he calls the lost piece of time. If he discovers his dream, will there be the truth that he seeks or just a shadow of the past that he experienced? He leaves a town that is ruined. He walks through the wilderness seeking a new path in life. We can assume that the new path he chose is the better one.

Fall of Man is another outstanding song. This one has a dark feel to it and you can notice it in the guitar playing. The song makes reference to what led to the man’s fall and banishment from the Garden of Eden. GOD did not originally plan to banish Adam and Eve because HE loved then so much that HE would have kept them there forever. But because they were tempted by a serpent and sinned, their penalty was death. Beware of the forces that may try to tempt you into doing bad things. The song is also about the sinful nature of human beings. That’s why we are human and GOD is so perfect. This is because HE never makes a mistake. You can only wonder what would have happened in the history of the world if humans had not sinned. The River Flows Frozen starts with some acoustic guitar before transitioning into a death metal song.

On this album, we have a musical contribution from Kalmah’s Antti Kokko on guitars. Altti Vetelainen who played bass guitar on Kalmah’s first album plays bass on this album and also does the death metal vocals. The rest of the lineup consists of Pasi Hiltula and Petri Sankala and founder Jarmo Puolakanaho who also plays the guitars. Overall, this album is a solid symphonic metal album and along with the previous year’s album Chaotic Beauty, it is a good listen for death metal fans everywhere. The strongest songs in the album are Aurora Borealis, Heart of Wilderness, Fall of Man, Blood of Hatred, and Aeon.