When so many of the bands from their scene are slowing things down and pushing their sound into doomier territories, it’s great to hear Enabler spending the vast majority of their latest opus playing as fast as ever.
Combining elements of crust, thrash and Discharge-flavoured hardcore, this is a white-knuckle, teeth-chattering ride that doesn’t let up on the excitement factor for a moment.
Guitar solos blister, grooves are executed perfectly, Jeff Lohrber’s vocals sound desperate and unhinged and the pace and punishment are unrelenting. There’s finesse here too; Balance Of Terror is all rock’n’roll strut and big-bollocked bravado, Sickened By the Wake has a touch of Misfits about it and the near-six-minute Felony doesn’t have to rely on sludgy clichés on what is fast becoming this scene’s ‘token long song’. They’ve taken a backseat to the likes of Trap Them when it comes to breaking out of the underground but the variety of attacks and overall songwriting quality on La Fin… should level that playing field.
Via Century Media
