ENFORCED
“A Leap Into The Dark”
E.P. Review by Iron Mathew

8/10

Enforced are a thrash metal band from the USA formed in 2016, releasing to date three albums, ‘At The Walls’ (2019), ‘Kill Grid’ (2021), ‘War Remains’ (2023), and one E.P. ‘A Leap Into The Dark’ (2024).

The band have built a reputation for delivering aggression fuelled thrash metal with touches of hardcore – and via the bands new release we get to see a couple of sides to Enforced, the new E.P. featuring three brand new songs, a re-mastered version of the bands 2021 single ‘Casket’, and two blistering covers – more on those later…

…for the E.P.’s first half is all about the new material – the ferocious ‘Betting On The End’ getting the E.P. underway at a hundred miles an hour! The band are menacing and aggressive here, growling and howling across a thundering backdrop of abrasive thrash metal, the title song ‘A Leap Into The Dark’ striding in on the crest of a haunting wave, Enforced even more menacing than the previous song! The measured pace shuddering the ground is deafening, ‘A Leap Into The Dark’ (the song) exploding into life after a minute and a half to scorch the earth with savage intent. The opening brace has been brutal, the band rocketing forth with ‘Deafening Heartbeats’ – definitely the fastest song heard so far, Enforced smashing through the sound barrier with this one! And I haven’t even gotten round to mentioning the head bang ability or intensity levels yet, both of them sky fucking high!

A blistering first half to the E.P. the second half begins with the re-mastered ‘Casket’, just as fast, furious and fucking raucous as it was when it was originally released three years ago – the band maintaining the E.P.’s intense momentum. And now to the cover songs, the first is a storming cover of ‘Deadly Intentions’ by legendary death metallers Obituary from the bands 1989 debut album ‘Slowly We Rot’. And as a thrash metal band, Enforced have thrashed it up somewhat, yet have managed to keep the menace of the original firmly intact! The second cover is ‘The Chase Is On’ by British punk rock band English Dogs, taken from the bands 1984 extended play 12″ single ‘To The Ends Of The Earth’ – and for this one, Enforced retain much of the original’s punk attitude, the bands thrash metal roots playing second fiddle here.

Overall, a barnstorming barrage of savage thrash with a couple of dramatic twists showing different sides to Enforced.

TRACKLIST

Betting On The End
A Leap Into The Dark
Deafening Heartbeats
Casket (2024 re-master)
Deadly Intentions (Obituary cover)
The Chase Is On (English Dogs cover)

https://enforced.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/enforcedrva/

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