THE ENCHANTED
For Those Who Fall...
(Golden Lake Productions)
19:16min

Yeah, the good old times — I am really getting nostalgic when I write reviews for VOICES FROM THE DARKSIDE zine these days, harharhar. You know, I still adore acts such as ANATHEMA, old MY DYING BRIDE, CATHEDRAL, old PARADISE LOST, THE BLOOD DIVINE etc.and these guys, that is, THE ENCHANTED, really make me indulge in remembering these long-passed phases in the history of British Metal culture. This very act really kicks me off (and I am positive about this!) due to the fact that they play a very (and now for my Lovecraftian adjective passion…) original, ultra-heavy, brutal, earthy, sort of evil, old school, obscure, English, dynamic, natural, straight, anti-cheesy, abysmal, melodious kind of Metal only British artists can perform and produce. I love this Bradford (West Yorkshire)-based outfit (hey – you guys must be good friends with Aaron an Co., right?!)… they remind me of the aforementioned bands plus certain glorious Swedish stars like AT THE GATES (with regard to some harmonies in the songs, guitar cadences, twists etc. not the vocals) and the Irish gods of PRIMORDIAL (harmonies, partially sound, dynamics) for instance. THE ENCHANTED sound very strange, managed to create a sound-sphere that could have been conceived 7 – 10 years ago (during the time when ANATHEMA put out their brilliant “Serenades” album!!!). The guitars really remind me of these olden days, the drums sound so fucking natural that it makes me rejoice, very tempestuous (to utilise this beautiful Shakespearean term) in a way. Every once in a while, Jamie – the drummer – weaves in blast-beats, swift double bass sequences, but mostly he plays speed Thrash beats. The guitars elicit harmonies that sound so bleak, sombre, enchanting that this really leaves me flabbergasted. I grew extremely fond of tracks like ‘In a Dream…’ (luckily this does not show any parallels in lyrics nor sound to the ultra-tacky TIAMAT song, haha) and ‘Under The Hall Of The Moon’. The first has got a furious and frantic old school ending with awesome, very evil minor-harmonies – brilliant! The latter has some deep spoken-word passages which ANATHEMA introduced ages ago – sublime! Simply put – a beautiful album (with a beautiful cover artwork as well!!! A chapel photographed from a twisted angle with beautious colour-filters applied), a truly enchanting experience in a lot of respects: sound, composition, natural atmosphere (not very popular these days I should think!!!), outer appearance. Definitely one of the best albums I had to review for VFTD so far! Label contact: www.goldenlakeprods.co.uk

F. Cthulhu E.

F. Cthulhu E.

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