Having a hit song is one thing, but backing up that success in a sustainable manner is something else entirely. Tales of bands eaten up and spat out by the music industry after failing to build on early promise are commonplace, and it’s that fear of failure, of not living up to the hype, that can crush artists and stifle their creativity before they’ve had the chance to truly blossom. But that’s not the case for Spiritbox.

The release of the single “Holy Roller” by the Canadian metal three-piece in July of 2020 was a runaway success. Now, Spiritbox unleash their debut album Eternal Blue, a record that’s intelligent, ambitious and, most importantly, uniquely theirs. All the things that made “Holy Roller” and previous, well-received single “Blessed Be” so special – fierce intensity, unwavering emotion and technical splendor – are present across Eternal Blue, but the formula is never once repeated. Whether it’s the rapturous metal chug of opening track “Sun Killer” or the ambient melodies of album closer and recent single “Constance,” each of Eternal Blue’s 12 tracks bring something fresh to the table.

Inspired by a computer virus to which the album owes its name, the phrase Eternal Blue took on a new life and conjured all manner of images in vocalist Courtney LaPlante’s mind, which in turn inspired the songs. “It very much became its own thing for me,” she says. “It’s like, yeah, I feel eternally blue, and sometimes I feel like I’m in a totally depressed world. Hearing the words ‘Eternal Blue’ made me think of a world where the sun died, and the planet was slowly dying with it. From there, an array of images formed in my mind, and the songs grew into something bigger.”