Enabler - Eden Sank to Grief

Official Myspace
Release Type: Tape (lmt 150) digital and vinyl soon.
Released: April, 2010
Label: Halo of Flies
Genre: Hardcore


So this is the first thing I've bought in awhile (besides the recent Thou tape), because I've been trying to save money after my recent acquisition of a ticket for Maryland Deathfest That's right boys, I'm heading to that pie in the sky...

Anyway, what we've got here is another trusty offering from Halo of Flies, a small DIY outfit in Milwaukee that's put out gems by Protestant, Fall Of Efrafa, Thou, Half Gorilla, and now Enabler; I've yet to be disappointed by anything I've heard from them. Enabler sports a hefty lineup of members from Abaddon, Regrets, The Butts, Party by the Slice, Quest for Fire, Dead Issue and the former drummer (on guitar here in Enabler) of Trap Them,Today is the Day,Shai Hulud, etc.

Enabler's style, in a nutshell, is metallic hardcore baring a resemblance to His Hero is Gone, Trap Them, Integrity, and heavy darker power violence acts like Hatred Surge. Eden Sank to Grief features eight songs and so far is a limited tape, of which only 150 were made. Plans to go to vinyl I believe are in the works.

I like Enabler, plain and simple. Eden Sank to Grief starts perfectly, a quick d-beat into a bar of lone bass chugging along, then back to d-beat then out of nowhere a soaring solo. Within a minute or so, Enabler establish themselves as more than just a HHIG worship band, and thank Whatever. "Unconditional Surrender" continues the pace with blast beats sparsely used and impressive work along the fretboard, a very Gothenburg styled track. Things continue at a frantic pace until the middle of "Fucking Wartorn" where the listener is able to rest their neck and stomp around for a bit. Strong rhythmic shifts accompanied by leads, solos, a barrage of vocals and powerful drums keep your attention for the short ride. That lead midway through "Renegrenades" is awesome, almost gets into post-rock territory there.

I don't have any complaints about this one, Enabler know their sound and know the job, there's no missteps and no blunders. It's a surgical strike of heavy-as-fuck hardcore that should impress fans of Entombed as much as fans of Indecision.

Ol' Bill said it best, "brevity is the soul of wit," there's not a second wasted with this ep.

Take a listen here and you can buy it here (scroll down a bit). It's only 5 bucks, no excuses!

-F

On a side note, I hope everyone's got their eyes peeled for Machetazo's up coming Necrocovered, I'm shitting my pants about this one. Machetazo doing covers With all star guest vocalists? Can't lose.

Thou/Mohoram Atta- The Degradation Of Human Life

Mohoram Atta Myspace
Thou Official Site
Release Type: 12" split lmt. 1000
Released: November 2009
Label: Halo of Flies / Feast of Tentacles
Genres: Sludge/ Hardcore

NOLA's most hardworking band Thou put out their fifth release of the year with The Degradation Of Human Life. Here we see Thou's swampy gloom coupled with Mohoram Atta (a new band for me) who does an excellent brand of His Hero is Gone/Cursed hardcore with a touch of black metal. As with all Thou releases expect only the utmost quality here. Beautiful matte jacket with more of the excellent imagery you'd expect from them along with a matching innersleeve.

Things start off with a bang as Thou surges at a midpaced punk beat. Production's pretty much the usual jig, heavily distorted guitars, thundering drums and the voracious vocals clear and audible; if anything the overall production sounds a bit thinner, while the guitars sound a bit heavier, if that makes any sense. Thou plays much more traditional sludge with this, although as noted "Don't Vote" is pretty up tempo and even has some double bass work. Competently executed and well done, Thou maintains a level of quality many bands pray for, but if there's a fault to be had it lies in the lack of variation as this release depicts Thou staying safely within the parameters of sludge and it lacks the post rock touch that has always been the icing on the cake for them. Although my complaints are pretty moot as "Shorties With MP 40's, The Personal Is The Political" jumps from slow, to sludge slow and really peaks around the end displaying a powerful and great song. There's even a Minor Threat cover (Screaming at a Wall) which is excellent and the band rightfully proclaims in the liner notes "Punk lives." As we all know, metal bands embracing punk is a favorite of mine so this was great to hear. Also, on a side note I love Thou's lyrics and beyond that I love their imagery and politics. My favorite thing has to be the Black September fold out "Speak to cops the only way they understand" and has an M16: excellent.

While Thou pours a lot out on their side, Mohoram Atta fire back with the same caliber. As mentioned earlier, Mohoram Atta's a new band to me, but they play a pretty dismal and heavy brand of melodic hardcore a'la His Hero is Gone. The tonality and the production is very reminiscent of mid 90's Norwegian black metal and creates a powerful atmosphere, something I had always wished HHIG would've done more effectively. The last track sounds like Darkthrone covering newer Envy (Jpn) and it's easily my favorite part of this split. Oppressive and dark, the track fades out and signals a powerful emotive effort from the band and makes me zone out in enjoyment. Employing blast beats, a variety of vocals (including mass shouts), sludgy to black metal like riffs throughout their sound, Mohoram Atta display a plethora of skill. Defiantly a band to look out for Mohoram Atta's brand of dark melodic hardcore is right up my alley as there's slow sludgy parts, heavy midpaced head nodders, d-beats set to razorfast riffing and melodic black metal like riffing that makes me all giddy like a girl scout.

Buy here or here, here or here for you Europeans.

-F