Review by Richard Henry for MPM
Enterprise Earth make their triumphant return with their forthcoming new album Death: An Anthology. Stacked with features from some of deathcore’s finest including but not limited to, Matt Heafy (Trivium), Ben Duerr (Shadow of Intent) Darius Tehrani (Spite), and Wes Hauch (Alluvial)
Track 1 – Abyss
Almost choral vocal intro to this one, something that wouldn’t be out of place on a Cynic record come to think on it, loads of vocoder and layers of airy vocal, then it sort of kicks in with a guitar melody repeating over a dense soundscape, building all the time with the drums adding as well
Track 2 – Face of Fear
Very Dillinger as far as the riff to this, not a lot of hold on to in terms of a riff as such, the riff that’s there when we hit into the verse is a real sludgy slow one with the normal deathcore vocal delivery, then it’s back into that starting riff and it just loses the track again for me, the best section is the middle with the clean vocals where it just gets more solid with the orchestration and the riff, lovely solo and then a fantastic breakdown section right after it!
Track 3 – The Reapers Servant
Thats more like it, a more death metal style riff to this and then full-on thrash attack in the verse, before it starts to breakdown after a few bars into a sort of Slayer style deathcore breakdown, nice mix of vocals in the chorus part with the clean and more guttural’s, Darius from Spite popping up on this track to deliver a furious solo, then it slows right down to a crawling pace for the last two mins of the track, not sure it works after that solo section to be fair?
Track 4 – Spineless
Bit of piano and orchestral’s to start this track off, then it sort of grinds in with the first riff, really relying on the 8 or 9 string and just staying down there when it breaks down, there is not a lot to say about it until it kicks up and the tempo changes, then into a really nice pattern that follows the riff, again when the melody comes in and you get the twin vocals it really lifts the track up, again an absolutely blistering solo comes in then into breakdowns and back into the chorus again, when the parts are good they are good but so far most of these songs are 50/50 for me, great parts but not great songs.
Track 5 – King of Ruination
Nice bouncy riff to start this one off, almost sounds like a whammy pedal but I don’t think it is, now there is a genuine heavy groove for the verse, absolutely slamming, great chorus as well, when we hit the second chorus we get a breakdown after it and it sort of kills the momentum of the song dead, then after 8 bars it comes in with a start stop part that doesn’t do a lot for me at all, one of the better tracks so far though.
Track 6 – Casket of Rust
Lovely harmony guitar intro to this one over some black metal style chords, nice groove coming in as well, slow and ominous, then it sort goes into a straighter metal feel with the harmony guitars, then into a proper black metal feeling riff, very Emperor in the verse, that’s for sure, then it breaks down into a lovely part with the guitar and double bass syncopated with a guitar harmony line flowing through it, when it twists again into the clean vocal part it’s really epic, was not expecting that clean section in the middle and then hits into a breakdown riff, really nice solo comes in again near the end of the track and its absolutely soaring, loads of technique and feel in it, again the playing has been excellent, every solo has been brilliant, then into a nice acoustic outro section, outstanding track!
Track 7 – I Devine
Interesting drum groove to the start with a pulsing bass part and heavily processed vocals, then it kicks in for the verse, the vocal seems a bit buried in higher screams, then comes in a blinding riff with a guitar part over the top of it, before slipping into the higher scream vocals again, before it drops into the riff at the start, again it just sort of kills the momentum to me, that’s a nice breakdown there right in the middle, really slowing it down, grindy, I love the almost Mediterranean feeling outro with the acoustic guitar!
Track 8 – Malevolent Force
Droning vocal to start this off, wouldn’t sound out of place on a Nile album, chanting going on under the main riff as the song starts, then the blast beats and the riff starts proper, the riff sort of reminds me of Slipknot in the second half of it with a more aggressive vocal obviously, nice when it breaks and the clean vocal comes in with all the outside elements there as well, then we go into a 30 second clean guitar section that maybe outstays its welcome a bit as it then goes straight into blast beats, no mistaking Wes Hauch, throwing in a stunning solo into this one, then back out into the verse and chorus to the end.
Track 9 – Accelerated Demise
Is that like a country deathcore hoe down at the start of that before the riff proper kicks in, that’s the best way I can describe that, no that’s what it is because it comes up again, then a real staccato riff comes up next playing off the drums, there is an absolutely bonkers solo in this one from Gabe, the guy is a great player, nice drum break from Brian and then again you get the bass breaks from Dakota, they are trading off each other in the middle of this one, great instrumental showing off the talents of the guys!
Track 10 – Blood and Teeth
Piano intro to this one, lovely sounding and then the clean vocals come in along with it, I wasn’t expecting that, before the wall of guitars come crashing in with a harmony part, slower verse that’s heavy as hell, then the next section is an almost neo classical sounding riff with the higher vocals, and just as i say that there is a proper guitar hero riff, before we hit the trem picking part next, into a big clean massive sounding chorus, a sort of mellotron sounding break in the middle where it breaks into a clean section, again a lovely solo section comes in, great playing, then back into that massive chorus that rides out to the breakdown that rides out the track!
Track 11 – Curse of Flesh
Starting off with the cleanish chorus part, it’s a slamming driving double bass led riff that kicks this one off, with none other than Matt from Trivium on this one, its real thrash fest on the verse with a crazy guitar riff in there before it descends into a really heavy riff that slows down a bit but not enough to be a breakdown before it picks way up, really big chorus it lifts the track so much and that’s why it was so cool to open the track with it, middle section goes into a breakdown with clean guitars circling around the outside of the riff, breaking out into a clean atmospheric section before it slams back in with the pre chorus and chorus part, it sort of fades into an atmospheric part, like the album started with, nice bookend to the album.
6 out of 10
When it’s good, it’s good, but the first few songs had good parts, but I wouldn’t say the songs where outstanding, the back half of the album really stepped it up and i really enjoyed it, in saying that the playing on the whole album is fantastic, just song of the songs for me didn’t quite click, but hey, that’s my opinion and you guys may love all of it, so decide for yourselves and go pick it up and give it a listen!
Enterprise Earth are:
Gabe Mangold [guitar, backing vocals, production]
Travis Worland [vocals]
Brian Zackey [drums]
Dakota Johnson [bass]
Enterprise Earth online:
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