ENFORCER - Death By Fire

There's something about this band that made me adore it right from the first minute, even before listening the album. Be it the oldfashioned cover, the name or the title, I don't know for sure, but I had the feeling that this would be one hell of an album from the start. Enforcer is a band from Sweden, and brings a breath of fresh air into todays scene, with their back to the roots way of Metal. These dudes here are playing NWOBHM-meets-Speed Metal-with-some-touches-of-Thrash, a style that oozes 80's, with crunchy guitar riffs, screaming vocals, melodies here and there to enhance the result, and some incredible energy flowing through their whole creation. Inspirations are plenty here, with early Iron Maiden being one of them, early Metallica-like riffs can also be heard in some of the intros, while nothing of these doesn't spoil the fun in any case. What the band wanted to do with their latest release was to solidify their sound rather than exploring new paths, and this makes their music even more strong and interesting. There are enough catchy ideas here, and mostly those of a bigger age that lived the 80's, will recognize some of the feeling and the atmosphere of those days, and this also a plus. There are no less good moments, nor songs that seem out of place, everything is carefully realized, and this is an album that will be a big step forward for them. With the all the aspects of the album moving on retro rhythms, the concept of the lyrics couldn't be otherwise, talking about various ways of dying, in various forms and shapes, as Olof Wikstrand states. Perfectly produced to preserve the details of the music, but also the valuable atmosphere, it seems that these guys left nothing in chance. Even the length of the music is carefully calculated to fit on an vinyl, although I would prefer it to be more lengthy to be honest. With such a great atmosphere and music, the band pays homage to their music heroes, and brings back some of the 80's glory.