The Eternals

The Eternals formed as a distinctly distorted funk and dub collective, merging the skills of Damon Locks on vocals, keyboards, and special EFX with Wayne Montana handling bass, melodica, guitar, and keyboards alongside Dan Fliegel on percussion, guitar, and keyboards. Prior to this, Montana and Locks had collaborated extensively within the underappreciated Trenchmouth, whereas Fliegel had joined forces with Tortoise members to serve as Tom Zé's touring support ensemble. Resembling their previous outfit Trenchmouth yet minimizing the role of guitar, this group from Chicago merged disparate influences ranging from Lee Perry through the Headhunters to Gang of Four, centering on rhythm while keeping melody and noise in close proximity. Following the issue of a pair of singles via Thrill Jockey during 1999, they issued their debut full-length album, self-titled, on DeSoto the subsequent year. Tim Mulvenna, known from the Vandermark 5, joined as drummer in 2004, leading to the release of Rawar Style; two years afterward came the remix collection EP titled High Anxiety. Their third studio effort, Heavy International, arrived in 2007.