ALBUM REVIEW: Kill Grid – Enforced

In the same way KREATOR separated themselves from the Big Four with their immense brutality, so too do ENFORCED enshrine themselves as a beast entirely unto their own on their debut Kill Grid. The Virginia-based group were already turning heads with their previous remastering effort At The Walls, but the lingering feeling that there was so much more to come was something that coated the release. The two new tracks that featured proved the band were amping up the brutality, and as such the thought of a true debut became an even more appealing thought. Now that it’s landed, Kill Grid is so much more than anything we’ve had before from the band. 

There is a distinct sense of blunt force trauma throughout Kill Grid thanks to the hefty guitar tones condensed down into a monster gut punch sound. UXO really lets the band flex this muscle after the frantic intro, showing their hardcore influence alongside their clear worship of everything 80s. It’s the following Beneath Me that sounds ripped straight from that era and really kicks the record into gear. The time taken to ensure every song stands out on its own has reaped the expected reward, and Kill Grid as a whole goes a long way to showing just how skilled a group of songwriters ENFORCED is. 

The addition of double bass thanks to their new drummer also fuels the mighty engine that gives Kill Grid all its power. The rhythm section works overtime from start to finish and for good results, as the grinding pace this album rolls at is oppressive and excellent. It’s exactly how thrash should be; in your face and with intent to do damage. Malignance and Hemorrhage both boast epic ferocity whilst the solemn drone before the chaos of The Doctrine is enough to make your knees shake. ENFORCED are here to put the anger and power back into thrash and it is truly welcomed if it’s going to be this high a quality.

The tirade of riffs that comes thanks to the title track allows the group the biggest opportunity to show their song-writing chops with its seven minute run time. The movements flow together well and it certainly stands as one of the more brutal ways to spend your time, but it does stand as a really effective pacing tool, and towards the end of the song the mid tempo stomp allows for a rocket acceleration back to break neck speed. Curtain Fire is perhaps the most hardcore song of the record and it stands out for it, giving a different energy but still fitting in perfectly with the rest of the record. 

ENFORCED have always stood out from the pack, even back they were dropping just four track demos. Kill Grid shows the band truly coming into their own and proving themselves to be one of the most exciting bands in thrash today. Their fusion of sounds, innate ability to craft interesting compositions, and the raw power they wield is enough to assert them at the top of the pecking order now, and when they’re allowed to run amok on tour it shouldn’t take long for everyone to understand just how good ENFORCED really are when they are armed with an album as good as this. 

Rating: 9/10

Kill Grid is out now via Century Media Records. 

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