by Anderson Mar & Matthew Marchesi

The newly-renovated Skybar, a 21 plus live music venue located at 518 Somerville Ave. is walking distance from the Porter Square T stop for the fitness-inclined.

Eternal Embrace

The club is has recently become a hotbed of specialty music nights.  In addition to straight-up rock ‚Äòn roll on the weekends, Tuesdays encompass some of the area‚Äôs best singer-songwriters in a relaxed, no-earplugs-required setting, while the first and third Thursday of the month will find patrons of the mournful aesthetic congregating en masse for Dark Sky, Massachusetts‚Äô only ‚Äúdarker alternative‚Äù‚Äîsince it‚Äôs apparently not politically correct to use the term Goth anymore live music night. Still other evenings have played host to punk rock extravaganzas, country and western-themed bands, and Women in Rock showcases.

You never know what you’re going to get at The Skybar, and therein lies the beauty of it.

With the closure of the infamous Chopping Block, and hiatus of a few well-known Allston-based nightclubs, we were was approached by several bands in the local hard rock/heavy metal scene looking for a suitable venue to call their own. Mar, who with partner Marchesi, was co-founder of the The New England Punk, Goth, and Metal Fest in 2005,decided to welcome these bands into her club with open arms and gauge the response, which so far has been remarkable.

The Skybar will be launching a weekly Metal Night Beginning on Sunday.

Working with subsidiary bookers such as Rich Horror of the band It Will End in Pure Horror, and Scott Green of Dreaded Silence, Sundays will now feature an early show from 7 11 p.m., with three bands playing sets at 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m., respectively.  The music will end in time to get patrons home at a reasonable hour for dayjobia the next day. Metal fans will no longer have to find rides to Worcester and Manchester to savor the sounds of the bands they love, thanks to this new Sunday series.

This week’s spotlight is on world metal band Eternal Embrace, who will be the headlining act at The Skybar Saturday. The band performs world metal, a fusion of many different styles and influences from Middle Eastern, Gypsy, Celtic, European Folk, Classical, Jazz, Rock and Metal, said the band’s founding members Eirik and Eleanor Moyer.

Eternal Embrace recently signed to the independent label Burnt Oak Productions, the band released their first CD “Forest of Stone in the fall of 2006 and will be entering the studio in March to complete work on the follow-up album, Snowfall.

While “Forest of Stone” presented itself as a doom/death metal album filled with passion and vigor, “Snowfall” is slated to be more reminiscent of folk Metal, classically inspired and infused with a more somber beauty. With the elements of operatic female vocals and cat-like male growls accompanied by symphonic keyboard strands, driving guitar riffs,and the recent addition of a violinist, Eternal Embrace creates works of intricate eldritch meanderings for the new millenium. Tracks “Oberon” and “Dagon” can be heard on the band’s Web site at myspace.com/eternalembrace.

The show Saturday will also feature gothic cabaret chanteuse Aepril Schaile, Shallow Breathing, referred to as “Connecticut’s answer to Evanescence, and doom metal icons Shroud of Bereavement. The cost of this event is $7 and the show begins promptly at 8 p.m.