UMUR "Life... And All It Entails" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK, Portsmouth based progressive rock/metal act Enochian Theory. The album was released through Mascot Records in February 2012. Enochian Theory toured extensively in 2009 and 2010 in support of their debut full-length studio album "Creatio Ex Nihilio (2009)" (among others with Spock´s Beard), but home from touring and full of inspiration from acquiring new skills on the road, main composer Ben Harris-Hayes (vocals, guitars, keyboards) starting writing the material for "Life... And All It Entails". Once the core compositions where finished drummer Sam Street and bassist Shaun Rayment worked on their parts, before the band entered Aubitt Studios in Southampton, UK with engineer/mixer, Rob Aubrey to record the album. Aubrey is known for his work with IQ, Tony Levin, and Transatlantic.

"Creatio Ex Nihilio (2009)" featured a melacholic and dynamic progressive rock/metal style, which in some ways is similar to the sound and style of artists like Porcupine Tree, Riverside, and Anathema (at least those are the artists who to my ears come to mind most often), and that sound is more or less continued on "Life... And All It Entails". Ben Harris-Hayes strong voice and emotive delivery is a focal point in the music, but there are also instrumental sections, which are quite effectful featured on the album. It´s slow building and atmospheric music, and often mellow melancholic sections are followed by more massive layered and loud sections. Bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, strings, and vocals come together in epic style when the music reaches it´s climaxes.

It´s not the type of progressive rock/metal, which features longer instrumental parts with busy guitar/keyboard work, but instead the compositions are cleverly composed with layers of atmosphere enhancing sounds and effects. It´s quite sophisticated, and what I would characterize as "listening music". While the album does feature some heavy, metal oriented sections, it´s generally not a very metal oriented release. About half-way through the album the clean vocals begin to be complimented by blackened growls though, and those sections are naturally more in the metal mold (especially "For Your Glory, Great Deceiver" and "Singularites" are both quite heavy). Upon initial listens I was not convinced the growling vocals suited the music very well, but more spins have convinced me otherwise.

The quality of the material on the 13 track, 55:20 minutes long album is generally high, and the album features a good flow, where the tracks often seque into each other, to make the album feel like a concept release. I´m not 100% sure if it is though, but my guess would be that there is an overall concept through the album. "Life... And All It Entails" is a well produced album, featuring a warm, pleasant, and detailed sound production, which brings out the best in the material. So upon conclusion it´s a high quality release in most departments. When that is said the material could overall have been a bit more hook laden and prospered from it. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Sinkadotentree ENOCHIAN THEORY are a band out of the UK who play an atmospheric and dark style of Metal that is contrasted with heaviness. The vocals sometimes get extreme but mostly they are clean. I'm such a big fan of this style of music that i consider Post-Metal. David Castillo mixed and mastered this album and some will know that name as he has worked with OPETH and KATATONIA among others. There's also what is called The Lost Orchestra helping out here with orchestration, atmosphere, piano and synths. They are an important part of the sound here. This is their second album from 2009 but i just noticed they've released a new one this year, i'll have to check it out. Thanks again Jonas for recommending this to me a few years ago. A must for fans of that dark, atmospheric and heavy style of metal.

UMUR "Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Portsmouth based UK progressive rock/ metal act Enochian Theory. The first album being "A Monument To The Death Of An Idea (2007)". Enochian Theory is a three-piece act consisting of Ben Harris-Hayes on keyboards/ guitars and vocals, Shaun Rayment on bass and Sam Street on drums. The album was released on the 3rd of August 2009 through Anomalous Music Group which is an independent label the group has set up themselves.

"Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio" features thirteen tracks and a playing time of 48:35 minutes. The songs seque into each other to form a concept and this is the kind of album that is best enjoyed as a whole. There are a couple of short instrumental compositions that works like bridges between the longer tracks and help create the right atmosphere to support the lyrics. The music is melancholic, emotional and often very beautiful. References to acts such as Porcupine Tree (latter day), Katatonia, Anathema and Antimatter are not far off IMO. The music on "Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio" is not really progressive metal but more a mix of progressive rock and occasional metal elements like the aggressive vocals in "Apathia" and some harder edged sections in some songs. The songs are mostly of a more subdued nature though. This means that the album is varied and the contrasts between the hard and the mellow work wonders IMO. In addition to bass, drums, guitar and keyboards there are also sections with orchestration on the album. A very ambitious project.

The musicianship is excellent. I love the interplay between the drums and the bass and lead vocalist/ guitarist/ keyboardist Ben Harris-Hayes performs well too. His voice is really strong and when he goes from singing mellow to singing powerful sections I almost get goosebumps that´s how powerful he is. There are some excellent compositional ideas which involves harmonies created by guitar and keyboards that Ben Harris-Hayes, as the main composer, should also receive recognition for.

The production, which the group is credited for, is enjoyable allthough it could do with a bit of polish from a professional producer IMO. Don´t get me wrong though this is a very well sounding recording.

"Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio" is an excellent album by Enochian Theory and besides showing promise of even more future greatness, the album really stands as a monument to the fact that a new excellent progressive rock/ metal act has entered the scene. A 4 star rating is well deserved. I can highly recommend "Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio" to fans of melancholic progressive rock/ metal. I´m convinced that this is only the beginning of a great career for Enochian Theory.