The Swedes are back To Enforce Heavy Metal on all of us!
Being in love with
Enforcer's debut
Into The Night, I was excited to see, what the band would come up with next. You have years to write a debut, but usually only from a few months to a year to write the follow up, so it's always a little nerve wrecking to put album number two on the stereo. I have seen a lot of new bands starting out great, and then never really being able to follow it up. Not so with
Enforcer!
Diamonds is, if possible, even more old school than the debut, and that goes both for the presentation of the band and the music. The cover and booklet is keep in only black, red and orange and features images like taken out of classic 80's records. It's very cool, and fits perfectly with the music!
Enforcer takes us back to a time, where Heavy Metal simply meant loud, guitar driven music, before the scene got split up into a thousand subgenres and fan fractions, and bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon,
Judas Priest and
Accept ruled the world, uniting all Metalheads. Where music was about having fun and passion was the driving force behind its creation.
As on the debut, the
Maiden effect is clearly heard and felt throughout the album. With classic riffs, high, screaming vocals and bass lines that would make a young
Steve Harris proud,
Enforcer capture the mighty spirit of classic Metal perfectly.
The album offers a rather diverse collection of tracks, of course inside the confinement of the style. There´s more variation and tempo changes than on the debut, as well as more complex and mature songwriting.
A song like
Katana show just how much the young dudes have come as songwriters; catchy from the get go, but with a structure complex enough to keep it interesting, making you want to listen to it again and again. This is the embodiment of the awesomeness of
Enforcer: Taking the best parts from classic Metal, reshaping it and adding their own touch. The song has a brilliant and unique melody, and some intelligently arranged instrumental parts. Songs like
Katana the excellent
Walk With Me spice up the album, and shows that the band is capable of writing more than just catchy choruses, they handle the more complex and innovative material equally well.
Running In Menace was an instant favorite. There's such a perfect balance between the musical parts, and the wonderfully melodic chorus just sticks to your brain. This is probably my ultimate favorite on the album.
High Roller is an explosion of energy and attitude.
Diamonds is a tight as hell instrumental with some haunting, ghostly female voices hovering over for a short moment.
Live For The Night and
Take Me To Hell provides some real Speed Metal attacks! Especially Live For The Night is a favorite of mine. The rather simple lyrics about the appeal of living on the edge and the desire of danger fits perfectly with the music and works surprisingly well, when the music feels honest.
All in all a highly addicting album, that quickly gets under your skin. A running time of only 40 minutes makes it possible to spin this album many, many times a day - trust me on that! You could probably argue about the originality of
Enforcer, but you can't argue with their songwriting ability, and that's what matters!
If you´re into classic, NWOBHM era Metal sprinkled with Speed Metal, you need this album!
Written by
Nina Sunday, September 5, 2010
Show all reviews by NinaRatingsNina: 8/10Members: 8/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Stuart (Staff)
Rating: 8/10
Completely agree with your review Nina, Enforcer have suceeded where so many bands fail an... · Read more · |
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