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Ben Harris-Hayes – Vocals & guitar

Shaun Rayment – Bass

Sam Street – Drums

enochian theory       

Release Date: August 3^rd 2009

Produced By: Enochian Theory

Engineered By: Josh Eaves, Rich Tamblyn, Ross Gill & Enochian Theory

Recorded At: Ross Gill Studios (UK) The Old Black Smiths Studios (UK) & Ethereal Tantrum Studios (UK)

Mixed & Mastered At: Ghostward (Sweden) by David Castillo

preview by Matthew "Newbreed99" Haumschild___ 

I had to wait to when it was rainy.

          Warning: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS CD WHEN IT’S BRIGHT AND SUNNY OUT! You’ve been warned; it’s like mixing a shot of vinegar with a glass of water, it just doesn’t work. This is not to be insulting to the band in any form! When I first got this CD, it was warm and sunny outside. And all I wanted to do was rock. When Enochian Theory (ET) came on my iPod, I had to stop what I was doing because it didn’t blend in with my chipper mood. If I kept listening to it, I would have hated it, and that’s not fair to the band.

            I had to wait to when it was rainy to listen to this CD because I felt it would have been inappropriate to listen to the album in any other environment. All attempts to listen to this band at night resulted in wanting to put on Sepultura instead; which is pretty normal for me on a 24-hour basis. When I finally gave it a chance at a real listen, I found myself comparing it to Katatonia. Now, I loath reviews where the reviewer (I’ve done this too, not to be a hypocrite) compares the band they are reviewing, to another band because most of the time, the article is simply all about that. I promise, this won’t be one of those reviews! But the closest comparison to ET is Katatonia with higher pitched vocals and not as heavy or catchy. Just to give you an idea on what the band kind of sounds like.

            That being said, ET is a gothic metal band. Although, there are aspects of the CD that are metal, where there are distorted guitars and growling vocals but they are very far and few between. Most of the album is made up of synth, clean electric guitars, and drumming that precise. Being that I’ve been listening to the CD with headphones as opposed to a car stereo, I can’t tell what the bass was doing.

            One of the things I question about the CD is how the first two tracks are presented. It’s been my experience that the most crucial moment of a band’s first CD, is how the first few songs are going to sound. It’s typical for any metal band to have a mysterious introduction before the music kicks in. This has been done since the 70’s, so I expected the 2^nd track, “Tedium” to be a somewhat rocking song. It wasn’t. Instead, it was trying to set the mood for the whole CD. Kind of melancholic with a hint of metal that slow enough to try to paint a giant gray picture of something gothic. At first I hated it because it was so slow. It didn’t make me want to listen to the rest of the CD. I did anyway though and the funny thing is, the first guitar chord Harris-Hayes played that turned me off, ended up in my head as I was listening to the rest of the album. Now, that’s tricky! Not every band can pull that off.

            Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio, is kind of hard to listen to on an individual song basis. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that all the songs sound the same, they don’t. They have similar themes and they all blend together, but each track is quite unique, but not enough stand out to say that track 7 is the song I want to listen to all the time. The album, I believe, is meant to be listened to as a whole. If you’re a fan of Katatonia or Opeth then you’ll like this band a lot. As for a broad audience liking this, I don’t see it, but the same could be said about the bands I just mentioned too.  My only real complaint is how and where it’s listened to. If I had a car, I couldn’t listen to this, or if I’m playing a sports game on Playstation, or working out, or doing anything where I’m doing something else as I am listening to this. I could argue that the Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio demands to be listened to and not to be easily dismissed.

rating: 7/10  

Matthew Haumschild is a staff writer/editor for gryphonmetal.ch since 2002

He is based out of Minneapolis Minnesota USA he can be reached at matthaumschild@yahoo.com and  on facebook.com

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