Stormthrone

Some bands love to promote their shittiness, like Zarach Baal Tharagh. However, that guy knows he sucks and releases material that isn’t meant to be worth anything. Enochian on the other hand do everything they can to attempt a serious album, but their plans backfire to such an extreme degree that it buries them in a deeper hole with every release. This second offering I’d assume would fix the problems associated with debut, but it doesn’t do anything but continue the exact same Emperor-worshiping, less-than-average material… and this album is longer than the last one.

Well, at least they shortened the track number and expanded on the lengths, which is one plus. These songs also include acoustics, but most of them are utilized like Opeth – irregularly, without warning, and without a purpose. Overall, this one isn’t as childish and amateur as the debut full-length, but it’s still a dull album with unstable ideas and lackluster songwriting. Atmosphere once again is preferred over riffs or developed songs, and obviously the songs that include less instruments, like the synth-driven “Labyrinth Of Ice” or the medieval-ambient “Rune-Stone,” are the better tracks because they are focused and don’t include as many gimmicks (read: vocals, guitars, bass, drums) as the others.

Vocally it’s a step up from lazy screams to sluggish screams with a little more throat power. They’re not blood-curdling or tormented as I hoped, but pretty average – very typical and unexciting. Cleans are back, too, and it’s still the Kampfar style of proud, deep wails – talk about mixing good shit with bad shit. The production mixing has them up front as the guitars chisel with an abundance of tremolo. The distortion on the last album was crisp and burnt, but this one is thinner and more like Emperor’s In The Nightside Eclipse in terms of going on and on while getting sloppy to the ear. It all turns into one big fuzz and no riff truly distinguishes itself – no more thrash / death territorial riffs like on the debut, either.

The keys, while not high and gimmicky like before, are still second-rate – no authentic atmosphere is achieved and most of the melodies aren’t very interesting or poignant. The intro works for a build-up and “Rune-Stone” is a nice touch away from black metal, but I’m not fond of any other place with the keys because they soil the music. While the songs are longer, they don’t have much of a purpose and a few of them progress the same way. The bass as expected follows the guitars, and this time I can actually hear it rumble between the guitars and drums. It’s strictly rhythm backing, and for music this shallow I couldn’t guess any other contribution it could have.

Now for the drumming… and my god is it busted. You got blast beats, overused double bass, synthetic snares, tin cymbals, and other abominable patterns that eat away your brain cells. As if the songs didn’t bore you enough, the unexciting patterns employed by this drummer cements this band as just another run of the mill black metal group trying to cash in their check from Emperor’s In The Nightside Eclipse.

With that, I’d just like to end this right now, because the quicker I finish this the quicker I get to delete this shit. No good can come of this band, and what rare goodness that sprouts can be found in abundance with just about any other band that’s worth more than a dollar.