Enthral probably won’t be a name that most people will think of when it comes to Blackened Death Metal or Deathened Black Metal (depending on where you shop), but these guys have been plodding on with their band of noise since 1994. That alone is worth a polite applause. The band are gearing up to release their fourth album in sixteen years and have loosed this three track taster in anticipation.
The band must have liked the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s From Hell as the EP is littered with samples from it. Track one ‘Death to you all’, opening with a sample from said film, before descending into an almost lo-fi take on Behemoth’s early attempts at a crossover Technical Death / Atmospheric Black Metal sound. The second track ‘Celebration of Agony’ is a more primordial feeling version of the same formula, but embellished with more horror movie samples for a little more… fun. The title track ‘A Spiteful Dirge’ is a more straight forward Black Metal sound with no nonsense that puts one in mind of Beherit by way of early Death and latter day Bathory.
All in all, it’s a nice little taster of things to come. The songs while not as fully realised as they could be (though I’d put that down to budget more than anything) are still worth a listen. I just hope they can improve on their artwork in time for the new LP - something along the lines of their own Prophecies of the Dying would be a little more aesthetically pleasing.
http://www.myspace.com/trueenthral
