Enshine - Elevation (2026)^{Release ID: 65360}

The newest record from Swedish death doom duo Enshine is a pretty decent, if a little slow. I was worried about this album at first as the first two tracks didn't do anything for me. "Heartbliss" in particular had that really out of place transition between two different songs halfway through, before becoming a guitar solo for the remaining two/three minutes. "Distant Glow" was a bit of an eye opener. For one, it's entirely instrumental and secondly, it's the best track on the record. I was going to highlight this review with some snarky remark of "if you're best track on the album is the instrumental interlude, we're gonna have a serious problem" but that's not actually what happened. You see normally with these death/doom albums they start strong and lose momentum in the second half. As the album becomes more moody in its second half, it becomes considerably better. The slower tempos of "The Purity of Emptiness" and "Reignite" and the ample space given out by the vocals cause these songs to feel more lived in and do not feel forced like how "Heartbliss" or "Where the Sunrise is Felt" do.

This is a decent enough of an album if you can overcome the slog it takes to get going.

Best Songs: Distant Glow, The Purity of Emptiness, Reignite