Enshadowed – Magic Chaos Psychedelia
Another Greek band that has somehow evaded my probing ears over the years. Even though the band is definitely talented in their quest to uphold the Scandinavian style of melodic blackened metal, their style possesses a “heard this before, and a lot” assault by numbers. Having said that, for those of you out there looking for a tight performance, piercing melodies, and a wicked intensity hurled deeper into the flames by precision speed and sawing hellthroat screams from the vocalist, Enshadowed’s 3rd full-length since 1998 won’t disappoint with their Dissection Jr. on speed persona. Magic Chaos Psychedelia benefits from a pristine sound where every instrument, right down to the often buried by time and dust bass tone, gnaws through the speakers and allows the very maturely composed tracks on this release to soar. After 9 searing tracks of what becomes an unceasing din, the final song allows a bit of cultural diversity to enter Enshadowed’s ripping stew. Tribal drum work, what sounds like an Indian singing style, and other authentic instruments offsets the crisp metalized guitar tone for a trancelike wander through sage smoke and hallucinogenic imagery. If only elements such as this drifted through the bulk of this album to set Enshadowed askew from the core sound they have chosen to emulate, then I feel such a level of experimentation would have been a welcomed permanent addition to their songwriting arsenal. Even though I may be coming off as a bit negative here, Magic Chaos Psychedelia truly well done album that I have enjoyed on several occasions. The problem with releases like this is, they tend to get lost in a large CD collection as I would likely gravitate towards classic Dissection or Sacramentum music over this tip of the hat to that genre. Regardless, Enshadowed hold the line with conviction and well-considered songs. -Marty
Pulverised Records
Worm Gear 