Album Review: Enterprise Earth - Foundation Of Bones
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
I’ll admit I’d never heard of Enterprise Earth before ‘Foundation of Bones’ arrived in the review pile, bizarrely marked as ‘Top Secret’. They hail from Spokane, Washington, forming in 2014. The band has released three albums, the latest being ‘Luciferous’ in 2019. The current line-up comprises founder member and singer Dan Watson, joined by guitarist Gabe Mangold, recently joined drummer Brandon Zackery and bassist Rob Saireh. ‘Foundation of Bones’ is a bridge between ‘Luciferous’ and the work which is being put into the band’s next full-length album.
Their first self-produced output, this is a snap release in response to cancelled tours and lockdown. Guitarist Gabriel Mangold explained. “After returning home from our cancelled tour, we began writing and finishing up new material. While listening back to some new demos and being stoked on the quality of the mixes, we thought, ‘Fuck it. Let's give self-production a go and release an impromptu EP!’ Dan [Watson] tracked vocals at home in Indianapolis. Brandon [Zackey] recorded drums with our good friend/sound engineer, Chris Ghazel, in Los Angeles. I did guitars, bass, production, and handled mixing/mastering duties in my tiny home trailer studio rig in Taos, New Mexico. After several days of tweaking, we had a mix that we were all very stoked on and felt comfortable moving forward with our first self-produced release. I don't think we intended to accomplish anything specific with this EP other than releasing new music that we were very excited to show the world.”
‘Foundation Of Bones’ opens with the one new song from the band (the title track). A brutally crushing slab of deathcore, ‘Foundation of Bones’ contains guttural roars, massive blast beats, death metal riffs galore and the jagged, schizophrenic time changes one would expect. It’s a massively powerful track, sufficiently intense to cause a haemorrhage. Two covers follow. First up, a faithful version of Lamb of God’s 'Now You’ve Got Something To Die For', given a heavier interpretation but overall merely homage to one the Richmond outfit. Germans Necrophagist also get the cover treatment with their classic 'Fermented Offal Discharge'. A gloriously explosive technical death metal song, Enterprise Earth do it justice in level of both intensity and ferocity although it’s impossible to rival the original. The six-minute acoustic interpretation of 'There Is No Tomorrow' from ‘Luciferous’ is a complete surprise, and the gentle, melancholic approach certainly adds interest. The EP closes with an instrumental version of the new track.
I’m somewhat non-plussed by this release. Whether it bridges a gap for the band’s fans I can’t tell. The cover versions, whilst entertaining, are simply covers. The acoustic track demonstrates the band’s lighter side whilst the instrumental version of the title song adds little. Still, if it generates any support for another band who are clearly affected by the current situation, then it’s certainly worth getting hold of a copy.
