UMUR "Priests of Annihilation" is the debut full-length studio album by US death metal act Enthean. The album was independently released in May 2016. Enthean was formed in 2012 and released the "Tones of Desecration" demo in 2013. They were initially a four-piece but opted to continue as a three-piece after bassist Adam Mast left in 2015. The lineup consists of Brian Kingsland (guitars, vocals), Adam Broome (guitars, vocals, bass, orchestration), and Mitch Moore (drums).

Stylistically the music on "Priests of Annihilation" is a combination of technical death metal and symphonic black metal with a progressive twist. While it doesn´t sound old fashioned, there are a lot of early 90s death- and black metal traits in the music (when Enthean strip their sound of keyboards, I am for example often reminded of early Morbid Angel), and the album is generally a bit more organic and raw sounding than many similar contemporary releases. The same can be said about the sound production which is also darker and more raw and organic, than what many listeners would probably expect. It´s not murky or noisy by any means though, and details are clearly heard in the mix. In addition to vocals, guitars, bass, and drums, the music also features keyboards. The latter sometimes enter a rather predictable neo-classical style, which is also true for some of the lead guitar themes, but it´s never overblown or too pompous, but instead tastefully epic. The vocals alternate between raspy black metal snarling and death metal growling. It´s a combination, which works really well for Enthean.

The quality of the material on the 8 track, 44:41 minutes long album is very high throughout. There´s not a single sub par track featured on the album, and most tracks stand out instantly. And that´s not because this is simple or wildly hook laden music, but Enthean are skilled composers and master the difficult balance of creating relatively complex music, which is still memorable and powerful. It´s great how Enthean successfully combine blasting symphonic black metal sections with more riff oriented sections of death metal brutality.

Upon conclusion "Priests of Annihilation" is a very impressive debut album. With that said it´s obvious there are still elements of Enthean´s sound which can be improved upon and tweaked a bit. Especially the sound production is a bit rough around the edges, and although I personally find it incredibly charming, and wouldn´t have it any other way, I can see other listeners craving a more polished sound. I´m not sure a more clear and clinical sound production would have provided the material with the same dark and majestic atmosphere, but I´m not blind to the fact, that some listeners may not feel the same way about it. To my ears though a 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.

Nightfly It’s always great when you discover a new band that blows you away. Such a recent discovery for me is USA death metaller’s Enthean (Thanks Adam!). To call Enthean simply death metal though is only giving you a small part of the picture. Sure, there’s no shortage of technical death metal riffs and blast beats but we also get prog metal, some black metal and symphonic elements. The eight compositions contain a myriad of changes ranging from some pretty brutal riffing to quiet calm. Complex for sure but a strong sense of melody is rarely absent.

It’s the dynamics present in these songs along with the melody that make it such a captivating listen, Before You, I Am being the perfect example. There’s plenty of technical parts but not at the expense of killer riffs. These guys are no slouches either with each player at the top of their game. Some of the songs break the seven minute barrier giving them plenty of chance to stretch out, but to be honest they still manage to fit a lot in on even the shorter songs and to their credit do so without it becoming fragmented. It doesn’t get any better than Behold the Primordial where compelling riffs and shredding are set against some effective orchestration. In fact these orchestral elements are an integral part of the band’s sound and are going to help them stand out in an over-crowded extreme metal world. The production’s pretty good too, everything’s clear enough, but if I had a minor complaint it could just do with sharpening up a bit and a little more bite.

If you’re into the more extreme side of metal and enjoy it when different sub-genres collide then Enthean could just be the band for you. Well worth checking out and a band to keep an eye on in the future.

adg211288 Though the results aren't always what I'd hope them to be, when an album has a striking cover artwork like Priests of Annihilation (2016), the debut album of US extreme metal act Enthean, does, it makes it an album I want to check out. I found this album by sifting though all the promos I'd been sent, far too many for any one person to keep track of, and thought 'oh, now that one looks interesting'. And sure enough, although such a reaction doesn't pay off every time, this one sure is an interesting debut from the US trio, who previously released the demo Tones of Desecration (2013), then as a four-piece.

With a sound that is best described as being primarily a technical death metal album clashing with strong influences from progressive metal, symphonic metal and black metal, Priests of Annihilation comes across as a really epic sounding work of extreme metal music. There are times when I'm reminded of artists as distinct as MaYaN and Winterhorde, but Enthean certainly have their own thing going for them here, showcasing strong musicianship, an ear for melody and an adventurous attitude that it's a pleasure to get seduced by. The vocals are mostly done in a deep growling that again puts the album more on the death metal side than the black metal side. There are also some clean-ish vocals notably on the opening track 1054, as this is the very first vocal style heard on the album. The music is well polished and all flows well across the eight tracks. Dysthnasia is an easy personal favourite, while Invalesc de Profundis, the closer, is also worth a name drop, but there are no low points across the release.

With such a powerful debut album as Priests of Annihilation under their belt Enthean look all set to take 2016 by storm. All it needs is for people to sit up and start paying attention. And to my ears at least this young band deserves all the attention they can get.