Course Of Fate – Behind The Eclipse

Course Of Fate
Behind The Eclipse
Label: ROAR – Rock of Angels Records
Out: 30^th January 2026
Playing time: 45:21

Course Of Fate hail from the Norwegian city of Fredrikstad and were founded back in 2003. Since then, they have been celebrating Progressive Metal with a changing line-up. Only guitarist Kenneth Henriksen has been with the band since the early days. After several demos and the EP ‘Cognizance’ (2013), their debut album “Mindweaver” was finally released in 2020 – a concept album that critics compared to albums such as ‘Operation Mindcrime’, ‘Scenes From A Memory’ and ‘The Wall’. ‘Somnium’ (2023) will be followed in January by the third album, ‘Behind The Eclipse’. Although this is not a new concept album, the interplay of darkness and light plays a central role and runs like a thread through the songs.

For me, ‘Memories’ is a dispensable intro with guitar chords and a spoken voice. The transition to the title track ‘Behind The Eclipse’ is seamless. Doom guitars and drums provide a higher degree of heaviness. With a playing time of almost ten minutes, this is a dark Metal monster. Although it is in the mid-tempo range, the melody and rhythm are quite varied. The vocals are extremely soulful and emotionally charged. ‘Sky Is Falling’ is a little faster, with heavy riffs. ‘So It Goes’ (elsewhere I found ‘And So It Goes’) sounds less dark, mainly thanks to the harmonious guitar chords and warm vocals. But dark riffs keep coming through. It’s an emotional rollercoaster. ‘Acolyte’ is introduced by some piano sounds. Then it becomes very dark again, but also significantly faster. The drumming and fast riffs drive the song forward. But later on, the piano provides calmer passages from time to time. The piano is followed by synth sounds as an introduction and compositional element in ‘Hiding From The Light’. However, the riffs continue to provide a solid dose of gloom. ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’ have an extremely melodic introduction. Later, the vocals are very calm and accompanied by a cello. A contemplative ballad with almost minimal instrumentation. The closing song, ‘Neverwhere,’ also starts off quietly with accentuated drumming. All of this is part of a crescendo that hardly ever leaves the mid-tempo range, even though the guitars are more powerful and the drums are pounding.

The individual songs mostly range between downtempo and midtempo. There are no real bangers. This makes ‘Behind The Eclipse’ seem a bit long-winded at times. The varied songwriting and various beautiful melodies and hard riffs cannot completely compensate for this shortcoming. There is definitely room for improvement here for Course Of Fate.

Course Of Fate – Acolyte: https://youtu.be/dxpAr4cNJdo?si=NW1w5Mvshb853yKD

Lineup:

Eivind Gunnesen – Vocals
Kenneth Henriksen – Guitars
Fredrik Jacobsen – Guitars
Per-Morten Bergseth – Drums
Torstein Haakafoss – Bass

Track list:

• Memories
• Behind The Eclipse
• Sky Is Falling
• So It Goes
• Acolyte
• Hiding From The Light
• Don’t Close Your Eyes
• Neverwhere