A beautifully brutal release from Enhalo delivers one hell of a sucker punch to the gut with blistering riffs and drumming that comes through with the greatest of perfection and leaves nothing to the imagination as the band takes you through melodic universal travels through vast soundscapes, changes, trudgery, thrashing, and an endless sonic presence.
The Great Dying EP is absolutely packed with epic and anthemic changes that will surprise you at every turn, walking basslines and jazzy breakdowns that are progressive and augmented and all with this incredible attention to detail.
The bass tone itself is worth the listen honestly. There are shredding keys and guitars all over the place and it's nailed as the aesthetic is as well.
Breaking back into metal madness, the band creates such distant and creative songwriting that picks you up and flies you to other worlds.
The record is insanely melodic and the players at times, fit crazy amounts of notes into tiny seconds of space to the point where you have to go back and listen again just to soak it all in.
And this record is like a concept album of sorts. It's got connectivity between the songs and the flow into each other with a graceful approach as the songs thrive in a blissful and edgy form.
Keys and synths really fill the space with so much wonderous atmosphere and the songs become these orchestrated pieces that hit with a passion and strength you won't believe.
This is a must hear because you won't believe it until you do.
With such an intensely woven release, we wanted to touch base with Enhalo to find out how they do what they do exactly.
Here's what Nicholas Nicoletti and Lee Gibbs had to say.
Buzz Slayers: Let's kick things off with The Great Dying album. This record has such a great thrash rock feel to it. Where did this album come from?
NN: So this album has actually been bouncing around my head for a while now. Trying out ideas and learning to record in my room. At the beginning of Covid I wrote and released an early version of "Purifier" that got a lot of positive responses and I felt like I was onto something! The next 2 years were spent writing and recording the remaining tracks as well as rerecording and rearranging "Purifier" from start to finish. I had learned a lot about recording since then haha. I just really wanted for my first release to really show my musical stylings and influences. As an instrumental band it's hard to get an idea across, but if I'm able to evoke something in the listener that's all I can ask for. I just wanted to write and see what came out and "The Great Dying" is what came from that! It might not necessarily evoke something in every listener, but I think I did a good job at showing what my style is and incorporating a lot of different influences in a unique way.
Buzz Slayers: When did this all start for you guys?
NN: For me this started around 10 years ago or so. I had been playing guitar for awhile now and had a really basic DAW and Guitar Pro and just was writing a lot of music - trying things out, learning what I liked and didn't like. Back then I was super into djent and more "traditional" prog metal of the time! So like Symphony X, TesseracT, stuff like that. And while the prog bands are still in my style, the djent aspect definitely left in my opinion. But this all means that as I started on "The Great Dying" in earnest that I needed to update my sound and make something that modern me would like.
LG: I got involved in 2020 after stalking Nick on Instagram for a bit and harassing him to come chill. I originally wanted him to teach me how to do a backflip but I was too fat for that, so we settled on working on some death metal. I eventually lost some weight but I still can't do a backflip.
Buzz Slayers: This record has some great styles! Can you all give us some of your top musical influences?
NN: There's a lot! And I think it actually shows. I would say the top influences for this record are Ne Obliviscaris, Cynic, The Contortionist, The Faceless, Fallujah, Dir en grey, Jacob Collier, and Sungazer. But to be honest I just want to somehow add some groove to the techier side of metal. It's missing some swing.
LG: nmesh and t e l e p a t h are big atmosphere inspirations for me. I also draw a lot of my compositional style from Glory Of The Supervenient. I feel really inspired by guys like Moon Tooth and Disperse / Jakub Zytecki as well and hope to live up to their genre bending examples.
Buzz Slayers: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music?
NN: There's pretty much just a handful of things I do. I play competitive Smash Bros. and I'm getting back into working out. I did gymnastics up until a couple months ago. Add music to that and it's pretty much my whole life.
LG: During the past few years I have been really into gardening vegetables and unique tree specimens. I also like to pretend I'm a rally car driver, which my wife hates (I'm a huge fan of the "Dirt" games). I also collect spiders.
Buzz Slayers: Who's in all your headphones right now?
NN: Right now my biggest obsessions are Wilderun and Kardashev. Both are ridiculous in such different ways and no one sounds like either of them. Wilderun's "Epigone" is such a huge influence on things I'm writing now with it's focus on a modern, forward-moving prog sound while also blending some Americana/Folk elements on top of an orchestral backing. It's crazy. And Kardashev's "Liminal Rite" is this tour de force of what they've dubbed deathgaze. It's a unique, heavy, atmospheric, and emotional album that's just oozing with character and love. I can't stop listening to it!
LG: I actually listen to a lot of video game soundtrack reimaginings like TPR. I also have a lot of abstract stuff playing like Oneohtrix Point Never, Washed Out, and Human Centerpiece. I listen to a lot of throwback vibe stuff too, Donald Fagen, Yes, and stuff like The Midnight that really makes me nostalgic.
Buzz Slayers: Are you guys doing any live performances right now?
NN: While we are preparing for some, we haven't had any yet. But there will be more details on that as we get through the year! It would be a lot easier if we could find a live drummer.
LG: I'll let Nick answer lol
Buzz Slayers: This track feels like a big undertaking, is there any advice you'd give to other up and coming bands out there?
NN: Once you've decided to do it, just finish it. That's the hardest part. Everyone's got riffs, but not everyone is releasing them. And just be confident that what you're doing is good. There's a lot of bands and musicians out there and everyone you see online is extremely talented, but the people want to hear YOU for whatever it is that you offer. It can be exhausting mentally, but very worth it in the end. That feeling of pressing the "Release Now" button and knowing that you can stop thinking about it for a little bit? That can't be beat.
LG: When you decide you want to do something, like really want to do it, you should stick to it and push through the mental fog that sometimes comes with big commitments like this. For me, that means sometimes I can only spend a few minutes a day working on it, sometimes I can only muster the effort to visualize my success with a project or literally just think about it a bit. Try not to be too hard on yourself about getting things done at a certain pace and focus more on doing what you can. A lot of times, that means focusing on mental health so you can be recharged to take on your project at a later time.
Buzz Slayers: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
NN: I agree with Lee. I want something that's large and has a lot of layers. Something that takes multiple listens to parse and to really get. Adding new influences outside of the genre in a natural way that can complement and grow the sound of the tech death genre. People will get to hear this kind of experimentation on some upcoming releases we've got planned so I'm hoping they like it!
LG: I want to do something that's really dense and has a lot for people to sink their teeth into. I'm really inspired by some of the artists out there that experiment with layered rhythms and dense chord structure; the struggle I have is making that dense material listenable. I hope to really hone our skill in creating something that is voluminous and adventurous while still being accessible.
Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
NN: You already do what we need you to and you listen and talk to us. I started this project to just get the music out that I wanted to hear, but it seems that a lot of others want to hear it too so just keep being cool. That's the most I can ask for.
LG: Keep us honest and cool. I want to be the type of artist that gives people what they want, and I hope people that enjoy our music now will help us continue to give them something they like to hear. I always respected fans that were supportive, but still vocal about what they wanted to see in the future.
Also we play birthday parties if anyone wants us to get a nose violation from their HOA.