Enemy is Us - We have seen the Enemy... and the Enemy is Us

Hailing from Uppsala in Sweden, Enemy is Us are another example of the current trend of sound in young Swedish Death Metal bands. Meaning they are alternatly groove and melody driven, combining the worlds of Suffocation and At The Gates, to put it simply. What the product of this combination arrives at is a very tough simple sound with the traditional death metal constant riff after riff creation. Much like most death metal, the structure contained on here makes little to no sense to me, and very often it breaks down into too fast progression of riff structures, creating a very uncomfertable feeling. Meaning, a good melody or groove will go on, then break down suddenly before it can pick up the proper intensity. This is not always, as for example the second song, "Cold As Hate" begins with a good groove and gets your head banging. However the melodic breakdown seems somewhat forced and never really goes anywhere. This doesn't exist on every single song, but does on far too many.

This may sound like I'm going to rag on this band, but, I think they hold at least some potential, it's just they show many of the weaknesses of a young band, as in attempting to apply too many stylistic variations in a single song, rather then focusing on a sound for each song (no matter how different), which tends to be the best strategy as far as I can tell. The main problem for this band (much like new black metal bands and full on melodic death metal bands) is that the style has already been over-played, with no one really doing anything any better than the original stylistic creators. Enemy is Us have a very high musicianship level, and are quite talented at their playing (if not perhaps their riff writing) but they lack that spark which would make this even more interesting. "That spark" is not really a elite thing, many bands have it, but it is important. Enemy is Us, could perhaps have the ability to reach that level, but to get there they will have to first learn how to write more interesting songs, and find their own voice. Also they should get rid of the vocalist, who does the same screaming sound over and over again in a repetitve fashion.

Many will probably enjoy this record, as it offers much if you simply enjoy this style and want to hear more. However if having previously heard In Flames, At the Gates or one of those sorts of bands was more than enough for you (in essence if you are like me) this will be simple repetition. So I would suggest to listen to it first before you buy it, as you may or may not like it. As such you should understand my rating is for my own feelings, not for the actual quality of the record, which is subjective to you enjoyment of this style. Personally only a few songs (like in particular track 7 "Plauged From Within" which is perhaps the most succesful track on here) really appealed to me.