Rating: 4 Pulses
Enfold Darkness’ latest offering to the metal gods, Before the Final Reckoning, begins slowly and delicately, standing in stark contrast to the majority of the record. Members of The Ascent of Everest contribute their knack for captivating listeners into a flurry of harmonious strings on the first track, “Babylon is Falling.”
The instrumental track?divided into two parts, the first softer and slower (though with a somewhat annoying cricket-like high pitched screeching note on the top, but I would assume it’s meant to provide tension, dissonance and edginess) and the second a very dark and driving passage galloping forward towards the following guitar metal songs?is a very interesting opener and possibly the coolest part of the record, letting you know you’re in for something special.
What follows is a brutal blast of heavy metal, rarely allowing time for even a short breath. Though the record encompasses only 25 minutes and 41 seconds, its brevity might even add to its effectiveness. Before the listener even knows it, BTFR is over, making it a quick, but certainly not painless, punch to the gut.
It’s crisp and tight, at times, dare I say, virtuosic, with some fairly elaborate guitar work and an actual variety of sounds, though not straying from the fundamentals of metal: blast, breakdown, scream and solo.
Each player has numerous times to shine on the album, with drummer Joshua Smith wasting little time, unleashing a furiously tight tom fill just seconds into the powerful second track.
Again, BTFR is peppered with nice guitar work courtesy of Matthew Brown and Michael Low. (And good crunchy tones on the muted chugs on “An Enemy Brought the Plague”)
Parts of “Dead in the Brine” give bassist Eviean DuReaux an opportunity to display his sweet slapping skills.
However, do not expect to get any meaning from the 100 percent indecipherable lyrics unless you have the handy hard copy supplied with the CD in front of you.
In case you don’t, an example of the inspiration lurking deep within Enfold Darkness’ lyrics: The smell of burning flesh lingers in the hallway. Sheer pain was not enough, torching the body leaves satisfaction.
In the notes, death metal vocalist Joshua Del Sesto is credited with “Lead Demonic Destruction” and he strives to live up to that, giving off the sound of someone in absolute agony?death, metal, together, straight outa Sweeden, yo.
The title track is a more tender instrumental one, bringing to mind the epic, dramatic metal of Metallica or Guns N’ Roses. In the piece “Before the Final Reckoning” a resonant, distorted lead guitar soars with flair above a bed of plucked acoustic (sounding) notes.
Enfold Darkness brings solid performances and catchy guitar riffs to a busy Middle Tennessee metal market and proves it can be counted among the best of them.
