A sea of black hoodies greeted me as I entered the back door of the Muse in Nashville. In Dead Cold had just finished playing and local metal revivalists Enfold Darkness were setting up.
I looked around the crowd and saw a few painfully nonconforming haircuts and one guy who had some Sharpie- drawn tattoos. The Madison amplifiers (a brand that sponsors the band) glowed red behind them as they started their intro, which was a preview of what is to come of the band entitled, “The Benefits of Your Demise.”
The first full song was “An Enemy Brought the Plague,” and a pit broke out in the crowd when the relentless blast-beating ensued.
After jumping a few tuning hurdles, the band kicked into “The Black Dragon” which is both track 3 and my favorite of the songs on the band’s Before the Final Reckoning. At the start of the song Josh, the singer, decided that he would join in on the aggressive crowd’s festivities and jump down to the floor.
Because it was raining, it was a little slippery and he fell ass over tea kettle in the middle of the pit. But he persevered and jumped back up on stage to continue the set.
The Enfold Darkness draws influences from all across the vast metal genre. Some of the members resemble Megadeth in both style and appearance? also, the likes of Pantera, Dimmu Borgir, Decapitated, and other black metal, death metal, and thrash metal from the ’80s on.
Eviean DuReaux, being a trained jazz bassist, helps make the band stand out. He plays an almost slap style with his Warwick (which sponsors him) unlike a lot of other metal bass players who just mimic the guitars an octave lower.
“This show was a good mix of various types of metal, said guitar player and Nashville native Matt Brown. “And it was exciting to see so many people come and show support for all of the bands.”
He added he was “happy with the climbing attendance of our shows and Nashville metal shows in general.”
The metal scene in Nashville is extremely fickle. Trends come and go and bands fall in and out of favor. Enfold Darkness is a welcome addition to a saturated and difficult scene.
Enfold Darkness will play at The Acid Living Room, located at 210 Tyne St., on Dec. 2 with Inferi, Evil Bebos and Through Ashes We Rise.
Check myspace.com/ enfolddarkness for more information.
