Artist: Enforsaken
Label: Olympic Recordings
Release Date: 3/23/04
Rating: 4 Skulls
Listen to the track "Tales of Bitterness" (Courtsey of Olympic Recordings)
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Title: The Forever Endeavor Artist: Enforsaken Label: Olympic Recordings Release Date: 3/23/04
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Listen to the track "Tales of Bitterness" (Courtsey of Olympic Recordings) | |||
Reviewed by Jotun (4/9/04):
I have to admit that I hold European death metal up to a slightly higher standard than their American counterparts, mainly because I feel the lack of any melody or harmonies and the similarity between albums in American death metal is just stifling. I expect a lot of harmonies from my cross-Atlantic brethren (or some sick black metal), so when the style is lacking a bit, I think to myself, "what an average European metal CD." But while driving to work one day, I glanced down to the CD jacket and saw that they were from Chicago. Killer!The story gets better - theirs, not mine. As most reputable metalheads already know, it is a real feat to submit a demo to Metal Maniacs' "Firing Squad" column and come out with your dignity. Early in their career, the band submitted their demo and got a rave review, and so the momentum carried on. They got the thumbs-up from Shadows Fall guitarist Matthew Bachand and put out an EP dually released by his label Lifeless Records in America and by LifeForce in Europe. They toured with the best of the best - Shadows Fall, The Crown, The Haunted, Kataklysm, and more. Finally, they got the call from Olympic shortly after the label was purchased by Century Media, and they wrote their newest slab.
The Forever Endeavor - featuring cover art by Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity), co-produced by Chris Djuricic (Jungle Rot, Fleshgrind), and mastered by the one and only James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament) - is surprising in many ways. The band certainly writes tight music that sways between influences such as Burning Bridges-era Arch Enemy, the harder side of Opeth, and A Handful Of Nothing-era Ebony Tears. The songs always stay on the heavy side of the line, but tend to combine both melodic and outright destructive riffs in the same song. There are moments, such as on my favorite track "The Acting Parts," where the riffs and tempo of the song change so fast that you'd think a bi-polar lunatic wrote them. The album stands out as a great testament to where American metal is heading (talent-wise) and as a valuable piece to any death metal fan's collection.
However, with the good is almost always a little of the bad. While each song has an incredible guitar solo in it, therein also lays the problem - virtually every song sounds similar to the prior one. Now, if you are listening carefully and exclusively to the album, or if you are seeing the band live, you can't complain at all. However, I listen to many of my CDs in the car while I'm driving, as do many people. When you're not reading along with lyrics, and not keeping your eye on the counter, you may get confused as to which track is playing. Part of that is because the majority of the songs sound like they're ending a few times over the track's duration. I want to point this out, not to say that the band's writing is drawn out or boring, but because it will take a number of listens before you become familiar enough with the music to thoroughly enjoy it.
But that is all I can remotely hold against the band. The band sounds like a collection of veterans more than a group of mid-20-somethings with only a handful of recorded material under their belt, so I have little doubt that they will continue to mature into a main-stage metal powerhouse. They have been accepted to play at this year's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, which will be a great venue and setting for them to really blow away a large crowd. Make sure to bring an ass-load of CDs for the merch table boys, cause you're gonna be busy.
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