Album Review: "Priests of Annihilation" by Enthean

Priests of Annihilation

Sometimes you can judge an album by its cover.  The first thing I noticed about Enthean’s debut album “Priests of Annihilation” is the spectacular cover art by Marco Hasmann, which depicts some sort of high priest and his minions orchestrating a hurricane composed of tortured souls.  

It is striking, bombastic and a perfect introduction to the music contained therein.   All eight tracks are a relentless assault of symphonic black metal, fueled by the driving riffs which are a hallmark of technical death metal.  With intricate musicianship reminiscent of Dimmu Borgir, 

Immortal and Emperor and a lyrical focus on epic mythology one could guess this band hails from Scandinavia.   However, these masters of the European sound are actually from South Carolina, further serving as proof the United States can compete with the old world masters in the black metal genre.

While the foreground features soulful fretboard defying scale runs the background hums with rhythmic orchestrations which then segue into violent passages of tremolo picking and blast beats.  The result is an album which  manages to be both melodic and atmospheric at the same time, adding a distinctly American sound to a northern European canvas.