Review by Adam M on October 14, 2010.

This is a spirited metal effort that has a lot of energy. The songs carry an impact from one track to the next. The album has an undeniable influence of folk melodies, but seems to carry similarities to Power Metal as well. There is a heroic aura to the proceedings that gives the band an authentic approach. They perform melodramatic material that has emotional punch and hits straight to the heart.

The music here sometimes pulls on your heartstrings, but at others it just drags on. This is because the band shares a lot of similarities to the Power Metal genre, though they don’t entirely fit into it. That means the tunes to be found here are at times uplifting, while at others underwhelming. This can be seen from the track 'Afterworld' which is catchy and epic, but gets slightly mired down by a cheesy approach. The performances here are reasonably well done with vocals that have a theatric style and aren’t overly memorable, but somewhat efficient. All in all, there are moments that stick out, but also ones that drag and that makes the album fall a little short of what the band could achieve. There’s enough of a pleasing mindset to generate some attention, but not enough potency and overall impact to really make this an outstanding listen.

Fans of traditional and Power Metal might find something to like here if they don’t go expecting an absolute masterpiece. "Guardian Of Eternity" is regardless a good album that is definitely worth a listen or two. The band put together enough melodic material to provide an enjoyable, if unspectacular listen.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7.5
Originality: 6.5
Overall: 7

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 11, 2023.

Salt is known to be an indispensable ingredient in every kitchen. Every beginner cook recognises it as a pillar of his spices and soon makes a covenant with it. Balmog has also realized this. To be honest, Covenants Of Salt is more or less the identical twin of Pillars Of Salt. To put it this way: the difference in length (18:26 to 18:23 minutes) is greater than that in the musical approach. If someone now asks what this shit is all about and whether Covenants... isn't superfluous, we should send him to Angus Young (because unfortunately the Ramones are all dead) and he'll explain the basics to him again.

Balmog (and with them the audience) wallow in a mixed bag of emotions during the whole time of their salt-sequel. Melancholy and despair, fury and impulsiveness go hand in hand. They are complementing and contrasting each other in an absolutely coherent manner. Despite the remarkable number of breaks and the changes in atmosphere, Covenants… does not sound bulky or overloaded in any way. Once again, the Spanish quartet has found a very resilient balance between the differences between the individual currents that characterize their music. Abysmally deep to blatantly aggressive, the demonic harmonies cut into the listener's brain and even if it all seems as if Pillars... has peeled itself out of its skin, it never gets tiring at any second. Soon no one asks about the necessity of the second part, but only about the timing of the appearance of the third section.

Needless to say: the production does not give reason to any complaint. There is pressure, there is transparency, there is heaviness. Progression and psychedelia may play a role in Balmog’s cosmos, but they cannot usurp the throne where metal sits above all. The efficient riffing or, to go one step further, the entire guitar work speaks a clear language, even though weird synthesizers want to take us into another dimension from time to time. In a nutshell: Covenants Of Salt is a worthy second part and a place where sugar totally fails. Should part three also succeed as well, I suggest "Triumph of Salt" as the title.

Rating: 8 out of 10