Enforcer really hit the limelight with their last release ‘Diamonds’ and this was a little change from their debut release ‘Into the Night’. Whilst I enjoyed ‘Diamonds’ I felt a little cheated as the speed that made ‘Into the Night’ special was restricted somewhat by Enforcer’s use of melody and catchy-as-hell songs. Roll forward and enter a major label change and Enforcer combine both of their previous efforts and come out with an album that is miles ahead of any copycats.
Both speed and melody feature, infectious sing along anthems such as ‘Take Me Out of This Nightmare’ hit the spot, almost as catchy as late 70’s Scorpions and fellow countrymen Heavy Load. The guitar tone sparks a vintage feel in certain places and there is much more variation from the standard run of the mill chord progressions usually associated in this field. Augmentation and rapid time changes mean this new music really suits the band, the flow is tremendous, as I mentioned before a perfect marriage of their previous two releases. If you want more NWOBHM inspiration and speed then ‘Death Rides This Night’ will be your guilty pleasure whilst an amazing instrumental piece in ‘Crystal Suite’ has a bit of everything…you don’t need the words to make this a genuine heavy metal classic. The album is “busy”, I mentioned rapid time changes and the production captures this perfectly. The sound of seamless with hardly any pick sounds audible and it does ooze high quality, a touch of class I suppose to make even the most hardened underground chaser enjoy this one. If you thought they were a pop band…go and figure something else, the boys have become men.
Enforcer always support their releases with touring duties, I cannot wait to hear these tracks live, this is very uplifting and for me a damn fine introduction to the New Year. In general when albums come out in January, it can often be hard to remember them come top 10 lists in December, but ‘Death By Fire’ will not suffer the same fate I am sure. Branding itself in my mind as one of the catchiest, but forceful metal releases of recent times, I love this album and the bands style, it has been a long time since I have heard an album that I genuinely feel that it has been a part of my life for years even though it’s not out yet or only just been released.
This is a cool effort combining their years of hard work and if you are indeed a new fan of this band you should embrace this record, it really is a memorable and genuine record beyond any nostalgia or fashion statement.
(9.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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