Album Review

Enochian Theory – A monument to the death of an idea

• 20th Apr 2007

When dealing with a massive subject matter, the soul, life and mortality musicians will justifilably break out the big canvas to work on; but many struggle to paint a complete picture and fully realise the entire idea.
Enochian theory are very sure-footed in the execution of the songs, the opening of ‘A countermeasure in hindsight’ taking it’s time in the build up proves they are clearly in no rush at all and almost come across as a prog rock Paradise lost.
The instruments themselves may not be as crushing as they could be either, with the whole sound distinctly underwhelming and becoming altogether cluttered. At one point in ‘Countermeasure…’ the guitar summons up a break that disorientates and confuses and feels like a jigsaw piece pushed into a place it isn’t supposed to go. You get the feeling they wanted to make a six minute plus song and didn’t care if the idea would last its duration.
With ‘Traversing the edge of dawn’ and ‘Our lightening shadows’ it’s difficult to see where Enochian theory will fit in as they have a sound currently dominated by an already overpopulated genre with the likes of Within temptation and Lacuna coil i.e. female led almost operatic heavy music, at times yes they have more depth and subtly but it doesn’t carry and lacks presence. There are standout thrash breaks that are handled well but are over too quickly and inappropriate with the material they are placed with.
A strong riff on ‘For those with conscience’ proves they are capable of straight out playing but shun it in favour of more abstract melodic outings- no bad thing but you do have to give the listener an outcrop to hold on to. Unfortunately it has a jam feel to ‘A monument to the death of an idea’ uncertain in its direction and inaccurate with high spots-but this doesn’t stop it having genuine energy and spontaneity like the long held vocal line on ‘Our lightening shadows’- it just isn’t dispersed well enough.
The whole album seems to be them attempting a grand ‘Fade to black’ idea but achieving more of a grey.