Enforcer – Live By Fire

[nyrating]

15th November 2015 Markus Falkenberg Album Reviews 0

Enforcer has been around for quite a while already and if this live album is at all representative for their energy, then it is safe to say that they are likely to keep going for quite a while. Just listen to the album and how Enforcer fires one metal salvo after another and you will see what I mean. In fact I must say that the album reminds me quite a lot of a machine gun except for the fact that it is considerably more enjoyable to stand at the receiving end of Enforcer’s full frontal metal assault than it would be to stand at… well, you get the idea. But then, that’s exactly what one can expect from a heavy metal band like Enforcer that is constantly dangling into speed metal territory.

In fact, I was tempted to call their style speed metal, but still decided against it. Yes, most songs like “Death Rides This Night”, or “Mesmerised By Fire” are extremely fast, but some songs like “Katana” or the instrumental “Crystal Suite” have a certain old school vibe that is a bit reminiscent of Accept or even the early Iron Maiden. Just be warned that ‘old school vibe’ does not mean ‘slow’ here. These songs are still pretty fast; think Iron Maiden’s “Sanctuary”.

This is also why I found it interesting that the slowest song “Speak The Tongue Of Heathen Gods” is also the song where the old school vibe is most noticeable. I just wish that Enforcer had given this particular influence a bit more room on this album for the sake of variety, but it is still a highly recommendable effort that will make speed metal and old school metal fans more than happy! Eight devils!

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