Reviewing a release like Entheos' Primal EP is a difficult thing, ever since Evan Brewer announced his departure from the infamous Tech Death
group The Faceless I was half begging
for the bassist to reform San Fran Deathcore legends Animosity and with Entheos, that is basically what he has done. It
would be rather safe to say that I am perhaps a little too invested in Primal.
...All that said, I would be
amiss not to talk about it.
In a very real way Primal is
exactly what everyone expected from Entheos and in that way alone could it be
said to be disappointing. Considering all but one member of the band hails from
the aforementioned Animosity, it is not surprising that Entheos sound rather a
lot like the later works of their precursor. Animosity were known (or not as
the case may be) as an OG Deathcore band, and are one of the few, in my mind,
that successfully merged Deathcore and Hardcore into one whole. In the same way
90s Metalcore ala Earth Crisis, Deadguy, Shai Hulud and similar were Hardcore bands playing Slayer, Animosity were a Hardcore band
playing Cannibal Corpse; they took
the technical aggression of Death Metal and added Hardcore elements to an even
greater extent than Suffocation did
before them.
It was a very different world back
then, when genre names actually had some basis in the music being played and
Screamo didn't just mean angsty Pop-Rock.
As has already been said Entheos
share many similarities with Animosity, especially their Animal era, though the Hardcore influence has been lessened
somewhat. These riffs from Entheos are equal parts pin-point precision technicality and bone
breaking, ear destroying heaviness. Guitarist Frank Costa has seemingly lost nothing since his days in Animosity.
The rhythm section is comprised of technical and progressive heavy weights Even
Brewer and Navene Koperweis. Since
their time in Animosity Brewer played bass with The Faceless and Koperweis drums with
Animals As Leaders, there are
arguably few better places that each could further refine their chops. It is possible that the perfectly balanced production
makes it more obvious than the murky fuzz of old Animosity albums, but Evan
Brewers bass work reaches dizzying heights on this release. Never content to
keep it simple, Brewer manages to find new and interesting ways to match the
progressive ferocity of Costa's riffs. The EP’s name sake track, Primal, shows
perhaps the best example of this, where Brewer unleashes a slap bass part unparalleled in modern Death Metal. Koperweis’ beats fit in perfectly too, with
drum patterns often sounding deceptively simple when compared to their actual
complexity. Some of those timings make my head spin. If you don’t believe me,
check out this play through:
The odd player out in Entheos, is
vocalist Chaney Crabb, who isn’t
just in the band because she’s dating Navene Koperweis. Her vocals are
absolutely monstrous and Veil of Maya
really missed out when they didn’t hire her after Brandon Butler left in 2014. Her audition performance was so good it was
considered news worthy by Metal Injection and it’s not hard to see why. Crabb
is a great choice to front the second coming of Animosity and I’m sure Veil of
Maya are regretting their choice now.
As I said before the only
complaint that can be truly leveled at the Primal EP from Entheos is that a
band comprised of mainly members of Animosity, sounds basically like Animosity.
For those who have missed Animosity has much as I have, this EP is a perfect
return to the heights of that band. For those who have never heard of Animosity
and like heavy music that knows how to groove as well as tech the fuck out…
well where the hell have you been. Don’t wait another second, listen to the Primal
EP... and then some Animosity.
4.5/5
