Review Summary: Stand and pay attention.
Formed in 2004, this Swedish traditional metal outfit do everything to captivate the listeners’ attention. Harking back to some old-school roots, Enforcer’s music runs loosely along the same passages as 80s speed metal groups. Blistering guitar solos, rather up tempo tracks, catchy riff patterns and well-done hooks. Since releasing their debut record,
Into The Night in late 2008 Enforcer has roughly stuck to the same tried and true traits while staying relatively under the radar on the traditional metal world stage. On the back of a small, bell themed introduction, Enforcer’s
Death By Fire gets straight down to business and for a lack of a better word, the band’s third release is fun, swinging from fast paced riff to high octane guitar solos and licks – for those who enjoyed the height of 80s metal, this recipe should be pulling the heart strings with a vigour unmatched by most bands on the metal scene today.
At thirty-six and a half minutes,
Death By Fire comes and goes without becoming at all, too much of the same thing. There’s absolutely nothing revolutionary going on here, and for those looking for a little innovative inspiration, there’s none to be found here. As a whole Enforcer’s 2013 record is solid, ensuring that everything has a place and nothing gets wasted in transition. Yes, at its heart the album becomes a little formulaic but, when combined with the up-tempo passages and the interest maintaining hook lines, it’s not in the slightest way over the top.
Death By Fire in short is the bouncy, fun record you could only dream some modern acts would be capable of. Here, however the dream becomes reality, a fruition of labour and good times, only in found on a disc. The album itself is far from a gimmick though. Thankfully,
Death By Fire was actually written to be the album to harken back to the old days of metal, where the only effects that can be found on the record is a slight reverb on the vocals, natural just like Enforcer’s music.
Other than the fact that this type of metal has been done before, Enforcer displays just how to do it the right way. Proving that you don’t need a catalogue of twenty other records behind you to release a quality old school record, these guys have their own twists providing a flavour welcome to those who have a thing for 80s records. This is not a mere copycat of Iron Maiden or any other traditional metal act for that matter. By making the music the band wants to they achieve a sence of individualism yet, it doesn’t step too far away from the band’s that made the genre what it is. The only flaws to be found with this album are the fact that the genre as a whole has almost run its course. Sure, the album’s great but there are a few acts here and there that are both more prolific and do it better and unfortunately for a band that does such a great job, it’s enough.
