Enigma – Stars Misaligned – Power Of Metal.dk

Many fans would likely agree that Melodic Technical Death Metal is one of the most challenging sub-genres for any Metal band. You want the growling, you want melody, you want to show off with your instruments, you want to enjoy yourself and you (hopefully) want to entertain your fans. But how? You better find an answer to this question, if you want to enjoy even the slightest bit of success.

But is Enigma able to walk this line? Yes! Take the first track “Stars Misaligned”, for instance. It is not the best song on the EP, bu there is definitely something nice about the acoustic beginning. But it is not just that. The song takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride! Particularly the contrast between the more melodic parts and the very dissonant sounding guitars creates quite an effect. But then, there is a reason for the “technical” in Melodic Technical Death Metal. This is not to say that “technical” equals “dissonant” here though. It often does, but there are also some very melodic, yet still brutal guitar passages thrown in for good measure. The next song “Of Vile and Bliss” follows a similar vein. You get Death Metal growling with vocal passages that would also befit a Thrash Metal, or maybe a Black Metal band. In other words: You get even more contrasts. You also get lots of staccatos that are likely a pain to play for the guitarists, but again, “Melodic TECHNICAL Death Metal”. The third song has got another melodic intro followed by a Death Metal explosion. Pretty standard for Death Metal, but so what? The basic idea behind this structure might not be new, but the intro at hand is still a nice interpretation of it. Other noteworthy things about the songs are contrast between the Death Metal and the Thrash/Black Metal style vocals – obviously a standard element of Enigma’s music – , but also the staccatos and the extremely high speed. Another interesting feature is how the song blends into the next one, “The Circus of the Collective”. In fact I expect many fans to not even notice that there is a new song. And then the last song “Demise of Authority”. Frankly, there is not much new to say about this song. Technical Death Metal, melody, Death Metal like growling and Thrash/Black Metal style shouting, staccatos and so on.

But what about the album as a whole? 7 devils! It is simply fun to listen to though I wonder a bit how Enigma would fare with a full length album. Would they still impress, or would they start to sound repetitive? I have no idea and I don’t have a magical crystal ball either. So yes, 7 well deserved devils and a reviewer who hopes for the band to keep this up, or better: To improve even more!