The death metal scene welcomes The Enmity Offensive, right out of Minnesota. This Inducing Oblivion EP is their first-ever release and features Derf Plurtleson on guitar, Jake Martin on vox, Jake LeMay on drums, and two former Anal Blast members, aptly Wes Mantooth on bass and former scribe here at Teeth of the Divine, Nick Kulczycki on guitar. I finally met this bastid in person at this year’s MDF. We had a really nice time, along with current scribe James Mays.
Enough of my blathering. You want to know what this band has to offer, and I am here to deliver the news. I must mention the batshit crazy cover design. It’s sick and twisted, and not only does it need to be on a shirt, pronto, but it also goes perfectly with the music.
Seven songs in 21 minutes, and the band opens with the title track. There are some space-sounding atmospheric parts, which will remind you of certain intros from bands like Wormed, Wormhole, Abominable Putridity, on the true real song “Orgy in the Vomitorium”. The music comes in with some awesome bass-plucking guitars and progressive technical death metal qualities. Excellent deep guttural-style vocals as well as some higher, raspier tones. The drum rolls and double bass are excellent. Excellent riffing and there is a really nice slamming groove at the 2.29 section so you can start going fisticuffs. Intermittent blasting and a penchant for the technical, progressive, stop-on-a-dime moments make this a very awesome way to open your debut release.
“Violence Is Virtue” opens with killer blasting and frenzied bass plucking moments. The technical wizardry on display from the guitars shows these skillful bastids know how to write some creative riffs. Excellent vocals and the time changes are flip-flopping all over the place. The 1.09 slower section showcases some of the wild rhythmic and at times, polyrhythms the band tosses in. The lead-up to the two-minute mark is most excellent. Some bashing of the instruments to signal a Holy Shit moment with a growl and going right into the blast. Crafty and nifty, at the same time. The song slows down with powerful vocals, and the musicianship truly shines, alongside some guitar soloing. The solo is catchy.
“Death Cult Liturgy” closes out the ep, opening with a nice, isolated guitar riff. The mid-paced double pounding keeps up until the slower pace enters into the picture. Blasting takes over, and more of that mid-paced super swift double bass action rears its head to slaughter your body into the pit time and time again. This would be a great time to break out that circle pit. During this moment, I believe the band has dubbed it “The Kulczycki Shuffle”. The song slows, and some killer growls, and the music gets softer until it ends.
There you have it, folks. The Enmity Offensive has released a particularly impressive debut EP. Inducing Oblivion showcases skill and finesse in a display of technical brutality. You would expect this type of cohesiveness in a band that has had several releases under their belt, not on a debut EP. This is enough to have Don “Lord Stomache” Decker, rise from the dead. Impressive, brutal, highly skilled, and you must check this band out now!
