Enemy Is Us
We Have Seen The Enemy And The Enemy Is Us
7.5
Damn, I know my Swedish thrash. The first time I put on this debut album from the Swedes of Enemy Is Us, I didn’t know a thing about the band, but I instantly thought that they sounded like Darkane in the vocal department. Sure enough, I just checked the lineup and Lawrence Mackrory (ex-Darkane) is playing bass and backing vocals. Conveniently, the main singer, Ronnie Nyman, has that standard Swedish thrash voice; think Carnal Forge or Dimension Zero. Although, their music isn’t quite as aggressive as those two, the vocals are accordingly toned down a bit.
Musically, you’ve heard this done before, but I always appreciate a job well done. Riffs descended from the style of later At the Gates, sterile drumming that keeps the pace and not much more, and a bass that just plays along. Enemy is Us fits more closely into the set of bands that take a mid-paced, groovy (Dude!) approach to Swedish-styled thrash, such as The Haunted and Hatesphere. Carl Vikman’s production focuses more on the low end instead of really sharpening up the guitars, but the rumbling hollow bass sound is a nice touch.
The opening ten seconds of “Ashes of the World” sound like classic Metallica thrashing, and they serve to segue into a sound ten years more relevant. “Killfest” is the zenith of the album, blending choppy riffs, basslines, melodies, and solos seamlessly, and managing to work the album title into the lyrics. “Plagued from Within” feels like a Eucharist outtake, and that’s quite alright too. The song-to-song quality is fairly consistent, but isn't that the norm with this kind of music?
We Have Seen the Enemy…and the Enemy is Us is yet another potent entry in a long line of fine Swedish metal. I’m glad to see that Mackrory has found himself in a new metal band, as he has a unique and identifiable voice, even if he is just singing backup here. Darkane and The Haunted fans will want to take notice of these guys.
