Review by Saxy S for Enterprise Earth - The Chosen (2022)

I'm not really getting the division among critics about this new Enterprise Earth album. I've seen a few music reviewers online praise this album as an early album of the year contender, while RateYourMusic sings in unison about how many chunks this album blows. The main criticisms this album has received is how it follows the trend in modern deathcore of having atrocious production like Emmure and Brand of Sacrifice. And while those criticisms are more than justified here, in comparison to those bands, as well as Infant Annihilator, nothing here is grossly offensive. It's technical wankery for sure and the excessive use of djent breakdowns is far from ideal, but there are some well constructed tracks on the front half of the album that use breakdowns efficiently without resorting to brutality. They can also write a decent melodic hook when they put in the effort.

That being said, the record runs absurdly long and with the melodic tracks being few and far between, I found myself skipping tracks as early as the second listen. The traditional deathcore passages on "Reanimate//Disintegrate" and "You Couldn't Save Me" have been done to death and I never liked them initially. This is mid tier deathcore that isn't worth hating and would likely be better if the band stuck with what they knew. The problem? This is album number four from Enterprise Earth and they still haven't figured this out yet. If there is any reason to be hesitant on this record, it should be that.

Best Songs: Unleash Hell, I Have To Escape, Legends Never Die, My Blood, Their Satiation