ALBUM REVIEW: Zenith – Enforcer

For all the diversification and experimentation metal has experienced in the last decade, sometimes, good old fashion riffing is just what the doctor ordered. Thanks to their uncompromising sound and no bullshit attitude, Since 2004, Sweden’s ENFORCER have been spear-heading the charge of the revival of traditional heavy metal. Four years on since the exceptional From Beyond, album number five Zenith is here, hoping to maintain the band’s vice-grip of trad metal in the modern age.

Die For The Devil opens the record and it’s a pure anthem. A mid-tempo stomp in the guitar department from Jonathan Nordwall and Olof Wikstrand carries the weight of the track as the former dispatches some infectious vocals that scream influence from the glory days of traditional heavy metal. Sure, it’s not the usual shock and awe approach we’ve come to expect from the ENFORCER camp but as far as an opening goes, it’s a downright earworm and gets the record off to a strong start.

It’s from there where things become more hit and miss. On the positive side of the coin, Zenith of the Black Sun displays some pleasing harmonised vocals and when the band up the ante in the final third through a barrage of riffs, blitzing solos and soaring vocal lines, ENFORCER tick all the boxes. Similarly, Searching For You raises the tempo to what we’ve come to expect as the band steam-roll their way through a plethora of twin guitar leads and galloping drumming from Jonas Wikstrand and the sleaze-soaked riffing of One Thousand Years of Darkness compliments Wikstrand‘s vocals incredibly well.

Regrets is the first big miss of the record. A largely uninspiring ballad, save for Olof Wikstrand‘s solid vocal deliveries, the very fact that this is the fourth song on the record (following from Searching For You‘s high-octane thrills) instantly halts the flowing pace of Zenith. It buckles the momentum and from there, ENFORCER struggle to keep up the intensity. The End of a Universe is very forgettable as the result of uninspired guitar-work and it’s mid-tempo slog doesn’t exactly keep you on the edge of your seat whilst finale Ode To Death‘s near seven minute runtime overstays its welcome and could have benefited from trimming the fat.

Indeed, the pacing of Zenith is its biggest downfall as a reshuffling of the track list would surely enable a much more satisfactory listen. It seems that the band are stuck on a fork in the road, unsure on whether to dive into the familiarity of speed metal or dive into new territory with radio-friendly hair metal. The result leaves a record that questions its own identity, making for a scattergun approach which leaves mixed results.

Zenith is a mixed bag of a record. Whilst there are moments that are thoroughly thrilling and demonstrate that the band are still more than capable of displaying unadulterated heavy metal mayhem in 2019, far too often, Zenith fails to land the knock-out punch, leaving a rather uninspiring listen, one in which the band’s experimentation with pacing fails to leave any memorable lasting impact.

Rating: 6/10

Zenith is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

For more information on ENFORCER like their official page on Facebook.