Review Summary: Well I mean, yeah it isn't something new and mind-blowingly original. Its just pretty damn good stuff.
I can like Enochian Theory as much as humanly possible when it comes to overwrought, psuedo-experimental and “atmospheric” progressive metal. These guys, for all their pretty generic qualities (you could find a dozen bands that sound eerily like them with simple google searches in five minutes), are really doing as much as they can with what they’ve decided to produce. They’ve toured with Red Sparrowes and Twin Zero, so they must be doing something right…right?
If those two bands being name-dropped give you an idea of what Enochian Theory might sound like, drop it right now. What
A Monument to the Death of an Idea (they aren’t pretentious, obviously) really sound like is a mash up of Earthtone 9 and Tool- two artists that are pretty much love-em or hate-em. Enochian does the best they can to provide seamless changes in pace and atmosphere, all while keeping the riffs heavy and the singing passionate, and then all of the sudden cut abruptly into a metalcore break with singer Ben all of the sudden screaming like he’s Jacob Bannon fronting a bad death metal band. It really isn’t all that bad, though.
In fact, Ben is the highlight of the album. He really doesn’t have that great of a voice, and sounds like any other young British dude trying to impersonate the greats in metal singing tone-wise. However, he is (cliché time children) truly honest in his singing, and makes a guy with an average voice like me think he might be able to front his very own prog-metal band! The album is also very personal to him, and many of the lyrics are poignant as expected from such a writer. “How we’ve come so far/yet still don’t touch at all” is just one of the slightly cheesy, yet touching lines you’ll find all over the album.
Musically, the album pretty much covers everything it needs to well. It’s pretty much just dark throughout, which is fine since they generally don’t stick to one realm of moroseness or apathy for too long. The basswork is surprisingly present for a band that is mainly guitar driven, with many of the songs almost seeing the bass take a lead role for a bit. Of course the shred is present, and there are solos on pretty much every single one of the 5 songs. Guitarist Scott is pretty competent at keeping things lively- he doesn’t dwell too long on any given guitar part, and is the usually the key component to both the melody of the songs and the section changes.
Enochian Theory are very good at what they do, and
A Monument to the Death of an Idea is a good sign of what could come. They have shown they can hang with the big dogs of the progressive world, and while nothing original quite yet, they how flashes of brilliance within the rest of the goodness. While it is pretty run of the mill for the most part, I have to say
A Monument to the Death of an Idea convinced me these guys have talent and could really be major players in the future after another album or two. For now, Enochian Theory are a very good metal band with a penchant for emotional compositions and enjoyable song progressions.
