Picture "Eternal Dark (12" vinyl, 33⅓ RPM)"

Picture is one of the first Dutch heavy metal bands. Formed in 1979, they were especially popular in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy for their live performances, and still have a fan base in South America, Mexico and Japan.

Picture supported AC/DC, Ted Nugent and Saxon in the Netherlands. With Saxon, they did a full European tour in 1981. Later on they toured with Rose Tattoo in Germany and headlined tours in Italy and Israel.

Rinus Vreugdenhil and Laurens Bakker originally got together in 1978 and started jamming with various musicians. It was not until 1979 that the classic lineup of Vreugdenhil, Bakker, Jan Bechtum, and Ronald van Prooijen came together.

Early on in Picture's career they were produced by Cat Music. They worked with manager Henk van Antwerpen and were signed to Warner Bros. Records. However, Picture felt their label were trying to steer them in a pop direction and quit the label to sign with Backdoor Records, a subsidiary of Phonogram Records.

The original line-up recorded their debut album, Picture 1 and their second effort, Heavy Metal Ears in 1980 and 1981 respectively. To begin with, they gigged throughout the Netherlands and nearby Germany and built a following. In the meantime, they started composing their own music. Bechtum would usually come up with the riffs, then the other members would contribute their parts. After hashing and rehashing the songs, they became the titles that would appear on the first album, Picture I.

As a bunch of young kids, they did not know much about the realities of recording. When the album came out, none of them liked the sound quality. As they grew in popularity, they returned to the studio to record Heavy Metal Ears and it was much of the same sound quality. It was not until they were a little older and wiser that they really got their sound in the studio with Diamond Dreamer. However, by this time, Ronald had left for personal reasons and they found Israeli singer Shmoulik Avigal. Not only was the recording done much better, but Shmoulik had a different, and some say, more powerful voice. Many consider Diamond Dreamer as the band's best album.

After recording and touring with Shmoluik for the Diamond Dreamer album, he suggested they add a second guitarist to fatten their live sound and Chriz Van Jaarsveld was brought in. Though he was a technically proficient guitarist, he did not gel with Bechtum and things went downhill. Then Shmoulik got in a petty argument with their manager and was fired from the band. About this time, Bechtum had had enough and quit for personal reasons. To fill in the gaps, a new singer, Pete Lovell, was recruited along with a second guitarist, Henry van Manen. They went into the studio to record Eternal Dark. This album was slicker than Diamond Dreamer and the two guitarists significantly altered the heavy sound of Jan Bechtum for a more technical groove that sort of worked, but started the trend for the final albums that veered away from the Picture sound. Around this time, Bakker could not take the rigors of touring or the stress of all their management troubles while supporting a wife and twins, so he left.

Tracklist:

Side A

1. Eternal Dark 03:39   
2. Griffons Guard the Gold 03:21  
3. Make You Burn 05:00  
4. Battle for the Universe 03:32   
5. The Blade 04:13   

Side B

1. Flying in Time 04:06   
2. Into the Underworld 04:10  
3. Tell No Lies 03:38   
4. Power of Evil 03:37   
5. Down and Out 02:59   

Time:   38:15  

Recording information:

Recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, The Netherlands.