Yes, I know I’ve got a fuck-ton of new stuff to review, but since posting about Enshadowed in this thread on Metal Tavern (the thread idea was stolen from a Facebook page called All Things Metal \m/ – credit where credit’s due!), I’ve had the urge to post something about them… and I’m gonna do just that.
I picked up this album a few years ago and, for one reason or another, it keeps finding its way back into my regular playlist. Perhaps it’s the intense atmosphere (please forgive the pun)… Or, maybe it’s the constant battle between Death Metal and Black Metal that rages throughout the album? It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, all that matters is that it works.
Enshadowed are the kind of band that your mother warned you about – well, unless you have a mother like mine who just says things like “that’s nice, dear” upon hearing your favourite extreme metal releases…. in fact, I’m pretty sure that my mum’s a secret extreme metal fanatic… If I ever have to move back home I’m pretty sure I’ll find an impressive collection of rare Black Metal vinyl hidden away somewhere… it really wouldn’t surprise me… Ok, back to Enshadowed (focus, Lou! FOCUS!). These guys feel like the real deal. They don’t appear to be overly concerned with sticking to any particular genre – like I said before, there’s a constant shift between Black Metal and Death Metal here – they just play whatever they want to play. The freedom suggested here really shines through and creates a feeling of freshness on the album, in spite of it being several years old now.
Going back to that little genre battle…
It really is a battle. On “Intensity”, Black Metal and Death Metal are not playing nicely together; it’s all out WAR! Each genre fights for supremacy and neither one manages to hold onto it for more than a few moments. And that, dear reader, is what makes this album so damn exciting. Yes, exciting – not just interesting, not just entertaining – it’s fuckin’ EXCITING! I can almost feel the fire and brimstone gushing through my veins. It’s not a comfortable listening experience. It’s not something that can be thrown on in the background while you take a bubble bath (or whatever it is you choose to do). It demands your full attention from start to finish. 100% of the time.
I would make a list of stand out tracks, but that would be stupid since it’s a whole album of awesome… But, below you will find “Sunya Bindu” which should act as a bit of a taster:
Rating: 99%
The Greek Misanthropic Blackmongers ENSHADOWED is now signed in blood and chaos with Pulverised Records!
The band’s third full-length effort, entitled “Magic Chaos Psychedelia”, is the ultimate combination of orthodox Black Metal with experimental grotesquery parts. Chaos, ritualism, paranoia – the formulas of how it can be harmonized with the chaos and the utter. Combining sheer power and an epical whirlwind of dark, nihilistic Blackened Death Metal, “Magic Chaos Psychedelia” shall be manifested in Anno 2012.
Tracklisting:
01 Stary Throne Of It
02 Is Venit Ex Abyssus
03 Black Holes, Death Planets
04 The Scenario
05 Surrealistic Shade Of Color Black
06 Dethroned
07 Inner Psy-Trip
08 The Dual Hypostasis Of Nihil
09 Magic Chaos Psychedelia
Commented ENSHADOWED guitar-player N.e.c.r.o:
“This is the right step for us! “Magic Chaos Psychedelia” is the most important step of the band until today. It’s an honour that ENSHADOWED is the new member of Pulverised Records. I knew that they work professionally and I was totally satisfied with my other band’s cooperation Burial Hordes with them. This album is a very personal situation for us. We re-made the songs again and again without any time pressure and therefore, the result was totally creative and powerful. Fotis Benardo of Septicflesh was behind the sound engineering. We spent many hours to manage the best sound quality for the recording and the mix. Now Pulverised Records is ready to spread our sick spiritual creations. Give yourself the chance to taste the blood of chaos and a magical psy-trip…”
Pulverised Records A&R Manager Calvin also added:
“From the moment we heard the advance tracks from “Magic Chaos Psychedelia”, we knew this beast of an album contains some of the most cynical fuck-off vibe, in stark but perfect contrast with their Blackened Death riff-heavy grandiose. And also seeing how we have unleashed a slew of almost-exclusive Death Metal releases last year, ENSHADOWED has clearly proven with “Magic Chaos Psychedelia” that we will have to derail that path a little in 2012! These days, we are extremely selective of the Black Metal bands that we sign and we have no doubt that the foreboding sounds of ENSHADOWED and the band’s unholy stigma of top-notch production and astounding musicianship will once again reign anti-religious terror worldwide!”
ENSHADOWED is:
Serpent – Vocals
N.e.c.r.o – Guitars
Golgotha – Bass
facebook.com/EnshadowedOfficial
myspace.com/enshadowedband
enshadowed.co.nr
