A short, panic-inducing opener full of samples, sirens, a huge roar and immediately offensive lyrics gets Eternal Enemies off to an awesome start. Unsurprisingly, the title of this track, Bring A Gun To School, also caused a ton of debate online. Emmure are nothing if not controversial and, love or hate their blunt, often clichéd lyrics, they certainly command attention.
Frankie Palmeri himself is amazing at delivering deep but well pronounced vocals and the mix of cocky rap, throaty roars and seriously hooky riffs is exhilarating. N.I.A. (News In Arizona) is massive and, with its futuristic twists, tortured tones and babies gurgling, might well be mistaken for a Korn collaboration. The Hang Up stays in theme too, adding a heavy bassline and snarling spoken word to the mix.
Fans who hated Felony, when this band’s rapcore turn really took hold, are unlikely to love this. That said, the death elements remain strong and this is a fierce album with some head-spinning fretwork and blisteringly heavy tracks like Rat King proving just how brutal Emmure can be.
Sadly, the second half of this album does not live up to the first, and overly melodic We Were Just Kids makes for a weak closer.
