Some of the inspiration behind this album came about as a result of a serious scooter accident to a band member, which caused her to look at the fragility of life, and contrasting emotions from depression to gratitude. Not to be mixed up with the black metal band of the same name from Québec, Canada, as a progressive death metal band, Entheos would seem well placed to express such thoughts and experiences. This is their third album release and comes six years after “Dark Future”.

Technical and urgent death metal darkness greets us. “Absolute Zero” is from the deeper end of death metal but branches into a number of musical zones in between the raucous vocals, deep sounds and triggers. It leads into “In Purgatory”, another technical, djenty affair with more than a hint of discordance. Growls combine with cat-like screams. It’s a whirlwind affair. Deathly it is, but it’s like a dose of breathless energy, changing patterns and filling our heads with a confusing riot of pungent metal. It’s a dangerous world out there. The atmosphere intensifies with “The Interior Wilderness”, a behemoth of a death metal track until the end when the mood softens and expands. My hope was that as on previous songs Entheos would build on this and take the ending into the next track. Indeed, they do. Moreover, it helps to keep the album together. The acoustic notes resound. The singer’s voice is haunting.

Echoing Dalek-like death vocals accompany it and take over on “Oblivion”. The instrumental pace is steady but powerful. The tension heightens. Not for the first time hear a guitar solo. It all breaks down like cosmic interference. The Dalek returns. “I Am the Void” is a driving death-doom post metal piece but with the addition of angelic vocals. “Darkest Day” swings back to a purer death metal stance, before “Clarity in Waves” takes on a more melodic take on the genre. “The Sinking Sun” similarly drives forward, this time at breakneck speed, with the aid of the familiar technical riff and accompanied in part by a dark and fast solo. The cat strangler returns as the drum thumps. The guitarist comes in with a mystical passage, and then it’s back to the vibrating heavy juggernaut that stands at the centre of this album, but with a haunting voice from on high to provide further mystery. Surprisingly and pleasingly it ends on a conciliatory note. The mood is carried over into the acoustic start to the title song, which captures all the facets of this band and the strengths of the album in one short song: a deep groove line and the juxtaposition of dreamy and death vocals in a powerful atmosphere.

The technical dexterity and all-round death metal atmosphere cannot be doubted. “Time Will Take Us All” can be both pure and hybrid in its style. Personally, I thought the band had more to say when they challenged us with ethereal atmospheres in a death metal framework. They are very good at this, and have the musical and vocal ability to pull it off. This is a very interesting album.

(8/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/entheosband

https://entheosofficial.bandcamp.com/album/time-will-take-us-all