“I have stared deep into the abyss.“
Ever since their inception in 2015, technical progressive death metal band Entheos has been a force to be reckoned with in the death metal landscape. Whether it be the assault of their debut EP Primal, the almost cybernetic vibe of their debut album The Infinite Nothing, the bleak atmosphere of their second album Dark Future or even the more progressive death metal stylings of their most recent album Time Will Take Us All, the band – now consisting of vocalist Chaney Crabb and instrumentalist Navene Koperweis – truly have something of interest for fans of pretty much any style of death metal that you could hope for. On this new EP An End To Everything we see the band trying to continue their reign as one of the most fascinating bands in death metal, by writing an EP where each song could stand on its own, while still feeling like a strong cohesive whole.
A good example the tracks landing so well on their own comes with the opening track “A Thousand Days“. All throughout the song we are treated to tempos of varying technicality, and atmospheres which lean slightly towards their mellow side. Vocalist Channey Crabb flexes her vocal muscles with a satisfying pitched screaming section that, despite how it reads, really compliments the more ‘chill’ vibe of “A Thousand Days”. This is the atmospheric death metal sound that Entheos has been perfecting over the course of their last two albums and this EP.
“All For Nothing” follows as the diametric opposite of “A Thousand Days”. It specialises in the speedier and more technical riffs that demonstrates principal songwriter Navene Koperweis’ talent. His background includes drumming for Animals As Leaders, Job for a Cowboy, and even Whitechapel, and with Entheos he’s the master of every sound. He shows that the project’s intent is to write music that fans of technical death metal will love while continuing to hone his skills. The burgeoning progressive side of Entheos benefits massively from this, and is a key part of their enduring staying power.
The title track and the main focus of the EP “An End to Everything“. Its lyrics are about giving in to that sense darkness and despair that we all have felt at one point or another in our daily lives, and to really hit home that feeling of melancholy, we are treated to a song filled with menacing riffs flying in at ever-changing speeds. This is further imprinted with as we are treated to a heavy breakdown followed by an earworm of a chorus. Atmospherically, this run helps to hit that feeling of unease.
By now, you might be asking yourself if we are going to get a straight-up heavy track for the moshers at upcoming live shows. Do not fear, as the penultimate track “Life in Slow Motion” has that covered. It’s heaviest and fastest songs that Entheos have ever written, complete with a menacing slam breakdown that will no doubt have the crowd churning. Closing An End To Everything is “Return to Me“, without a doubt the darkest song on the EP. At times it could be described as a technical progressive black metal song, driving home that bleak and desperate vibe that the record sets out to define.
In summary, An End to Everything is a wonderful EP that brims with truly fascinating death metal songs that truly leave the listener satisfied. Not much could be changed to make it stronger, though another song with a bigger chorus akin to the best cuts from Time Will Take Us All would have been nice, but they aim and succeed at capturing a more varied and atmospheric sound which would not fit that style, so this can hardly be considered a negative point. An End to Everything shows us why Entheos are one of the most exciting bands in death metal right now, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
9/10
An End to Everything releases this Friday, October 25th, and can be pre-ordered here.