Enabler - Shift Of Redemption - 7

Labels: Think Fast!
Review by: Alex Deller

Seems like Enabler have scraped off some of the shit and muck since dropping last year’s ‘All Hail The Void’, this four (five?) song EP far choppier and crisper than its immediate predecessor. The title track kicks things off at a brisk clip, the snarling delivery and full-throttle pace underscored by a vein of scrabbling melody suggesting things could, conceivably, all go a bit Skeletonwitch. ‘Live Low’ and ‘Sacrifice’ don’t exactly dispense with that melodic undercurrent but do their best to clobber it down with a more familiar mix of Asschapel, Converge and Trap Them while closer ‘Fall Selflessly’ is yet another departure, a slower cut that starts with some wibbly, delay pedal-enabled post-rock before blossoming into a morose, grinding bassline and a caustic, sorrowful vocal performance. These various elements are then brought together for a few brief moments of Tombs-y clamour until a brief pause and an unexpected lurch into a rendition of Pearl Jam’s ‘Habit’, which finishes things on a bizarre, eyebrow-raising note that’s still kinda hard to comment on despite umpteen listens and counting. Well done, people: I’m baffled.