“Death isn’t coming for me; I bled him dry.“
Over the last decade, Enterprise Earth have been remarkably consistent, putting out some of deathcore’s best albums in Luciferous (2019) and The Chosen (2022), and they continue their legacy with Death: An Anthology. After the powerful atmosphere of the almost oppressively vocoded “Abyss”, the dynamism of the record is on immediate show with “Face of Fear”, navigating from melancholy cleans to a shredding solo courtesy of the extraordinary Gabe Mangold, and capped off with some good old-fashioned chugs.
Death: An Anthology is blisteringly fun, with each track having a firm identity, whilst pushing the boundaries of their sound in both directions; new vocalist Travis Worland proves himself truly capable with the accenting melodicism that reared its head on the last couple of records and also the snarling ferocity one expects of the genre. Providing one of the most diverse performances in recent memory, Worland holds his own alongside legends such as Spite’s Darius Tehrani on early track “The Reaper’s Servant” and Shadow of Intent’s Ben Duerr on the Meshuggah-inspired “King of Ruination”.
Rare for a deathcore record, especially one of this length, there is never a dull or wayward moment on Death: An Anthology, stringing together a cohesive set of vignettes, ebbing and flowing between beautiful, cinematic, and pummelling, the frenetic cacophony of noise offset with delicate highlights such as the gorgeous keys and accompanying angelic vocals which kick off penultimate track “Blood And Teeth”.
The quartet paint their influences in broad strokes, including a heavy dose of Opeth, but the tracks never feel derivative or hollow. It is fresh and polished and passionate (produced in-house by Mangold, no less) in a way few artists manage a decade into their career, and to do so after losing a key creative force in Dan Watson is commendable. Every member gets their moment to shine; the funky isolated bass permeating instrumental track “Accelerated Demise” was particularly satisfying.
“The Reaper’s Servant” has a stunning thrashy solo sandwiched between walls of noise, “Casket of Rust” is a love letter to tech death Slice The Cake will be pleased to receive, and “Spineless” is a frenzied, almost bouncy, resuscitation of progressive death metal, calling for blood without painting itself into a corner as the heaviest track; instead, it builds in intensity throughout its runtime until reaching a fist-throwing staccato climax. Across the album, the breakdowns and singing respites alike feel well-earned, steering well clear of accusations of ‘commercialisation’ while delivering on the clear vision of the project.
Closer “Curse of Flesh” is the longest track by a hair, and is appropriately grandiose, calling upon the services of the great Matthew Heafy while Worland himself lays down some gorgeous gravelly cleans overtop galloping leads and blast beats. Death: An Anthology as a whole feels like an adventure, but the closer, one of my favourite tracks of the year so far, encapsulates this perfectly, dialling in with some evocative storytelling in the lines, “I freed myself from… I fall on my sword, bleeding myself out,” and later, “Death isn’t coming for me; I bled him dry.” The concluding transition from blistering guitars and Worland’s disgusting delivery to haunting keys and choral ambience is truly stellar.
Triumphant, apocalyptic, and surprisingly adventurous, Death: An Anthology is a worthy addition to the American outfit’s discography. Some of the instrumental fat could have, in hindsight, been trimmed, especially if one is not properly engrossed in the labyrinthian guitarwork laid down by Mangold, but I never felt that while listening; for its length, the record flies by. If you can carve out an hour, it is certainly worth your time.
8/10
Death: An Anthology will be available this Friday, February 2nd, via MNRK Heavy, and you can pre-order it here.