Enthean are a progressive black/death metal act out of Greenville, South Carolina, and here we have their brand new, self-released album Priests of Annihilation. The band are made up of Brian Kingsland (guitar/vocals/orchestrations), Alex Rush (bass), Adam Broome (guitar/vocals), and Joshua Ward (drums), though for the album, Mitch Moore played drums and Kingsland handled bass parts. Featuring eight pummeling, brutal, yet highly technical & progressive tracks, Priests of Annihilation is expertly crafted, well produced, challenging extreme metal, and easy to recommend to any fan of Emperor, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dissection, Arsis, Dimmu Borgir, and Behemoth.
There's a nice mix of symphonic elements and blistering dual guitar wizardry that blend with the aggressive arrangements, all the while violent blast beats hammer it all home and venomous growls and screams fly over the top. Epic sounding tracks like "1054", "Tones of Desecration", and "Before You, I Am" contain some really complex arrangement with a ton of depth, tones, and colors, while "Dysthanasia" sees the speedometer hitting the red zone in true raging black metal fashion, but with some complex shredding thrown into the mix. Let's be honest, the guitar work of Kingsland & Broome is off the charts throughout this album, as the duo deliver some huge riffs and virtuoso soloing in every tune, especially in the neo-classical influenced "Ekpyrosis". Neo-classical guitar and symphonic black metal you say? That's correct, and it works out quite well here. "Behold the Primordial" goes more into crushing tech-death territory, and it's one of the more pulverizing cuts on the album, while "Bring Forth the Raven" is pure symphonic black metal bliss. The band saved their proggiest tune for last, the majestic gem "Invalesc de Profundis", which features not only symphonic & folk elements, but combines both their black metal and death metal leanings and cranks the complexity up a notch.
This is great stuff, and judging by the material here I can't imagine that Enthean will be unsigned for much longer. If progressive, symphonic, and technical black/death metal is your thing, Priests of Annihilation is going to be a must hear.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1) 1054
2) Tones of Desecration
3) Before You, I Am
4) Dysthanasia
5) Ekpyrosis
6) Behold the Primordial
7) Bring Forth the Raven
8) Invalesc de Profundis
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