LIFE ... AND ALL IT ENTAILS

I was unaware of Enochian Theory until only recently. I am planning to see them supporting Tesseract on their current UK tour. The album "Life... And All It Entails" was released on March 12th 2012 and was praised by, amongst others, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) who commented on the production and craftsmanship of the song writing. The band features Sam Street on Drums/Percussion, Ben Harris-Hayes on Guitar/Vocals and Shaun Rayment on Bass Guitar. Accompaniment is provided by 'The Lost Orchestra' on Pianos, Synthesisers, Extra Sounds and Orchestral Performance.

The album opens with 'This Aching Isolation' which is a fabulous track, with echoes of latter-day Marillion and Fates Warning. The song is anthemic and accompanied by superb vocals from Ben Harris-Hayes. The next song 'Hz' opens with a throbbing oscillator backdrop and builds nicely with guitar layered on top. The second half of the song features some nice 'less-is-more' guitar and orchestral swathes. It sounded a bit like Coheed and Cambria in places, which is not to detract from the originality the band possesses, I'm just trying to give waypoints. 'Non Sum Qualis Eram' opens with melancholic piano phrases, and then features distorted vocals with an atmospheric, almost nightmarish tone. It's hard to make out the lyrics, except for the 'I'm not what I once was' line. Intriguing stuff. The next track 'Distances' builds nicely, and is notable for some particularly good drumming from Sam Street. The band shot a music video for the next track 'Inversions'. It features "The Lost Orchestra" visually for the first time and was released for internet viewing in May 2012. It is a great track and one of the strongest on the whole album. 'Creatio Ex Nihilio' sounds like an intercepted distress radio transmission.... from the future. I found it quite disconcerting actually. Next up is 'In Times of Silence' - it builds slowly and is another very good track in my opinion. 'For Your Glory, Great Deceiver' opens sounding very like Opeth pre-Ghost Reveries. The vocals initially have a restrained death-metal growl and then later, clean vocals. I like this song very much. 'Nisi Credideritis, Non Intelligetes' is similar in feel to the opening track, it could almost be a 'Pt.Two'. 'The Motives of the Machine' interestingly features the American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist Gloria Steinem and her memorable 'Address to the women of America' at the beginning. Near the end it has George Bush's 'State of the Union Address' from January 1992. Not many albums feature feminists and Republican Presidents. Don't let that put you off. This album is worth a listen and then another, and another...

After being very impressed with their previous album "Evollution:Creatio Ex Nihilio" from 2009 which I gave 4.5 stars to, I tracked down this their latest recording from 2012 called "Life...And All It Entails". The previous record was very much a Post-Metal album in my opinion with lots of dark atmosphere and some nice heaviness throughout. This one still captures that mood for the most part although I find the closing two tracks a little too lightweight for my tastes as they are getting close to being ballad-like. Up until then though this was a 5 star album. The lyrics are so meaningful reminding me of my own thoughts at times. Once again we get THE LOST ORCHESTRA adding a lot of depth and atmosphere to the proceedings.

"This Aching Isolation" opens with a strange atmosphere as vocals and music kick in just before a minute. He reminds me of the singer of BIG BIG TRAIN when he sings with passion just before 2 minutes. Nice orchestral sounds as well. This is so moving(gulp). "HZ" has this cool atmospheric rhythm that continues for almost 2 minutes. It reminds me of FATES WARNING and their "Disconnect" album. Vocals arrive and there's plenty of emotion and depth. A calm after 2 1/2 minutes as dual guitar lines just off-set join in. "They watch as I squeeze...till there's...nothing left, nothing left...nothing left...it used to feel so alive...when the light comes...falter...as I reach out to your form...cower and stumble...as I kneel before you..." My God what lyrics. "Non Sum Qualis Eram" opens with slowly played piano as the atmosphere builds. Spoken sampled male words arrive sounding desperate and other voices can also be heard. An eerie track. "Distances" is fairly uptempo with vocals. A good song. "Inversions" has these Hogarth-like vocals and it's certainly a more subdued tune than the previous one. It does pick up 1 1/2 minutes in when the vocals stop. Orchestral sounds 2 minutes in then it picks up even more as the vocals return. So good, love the lyrics. "Creatio Ex Nihilio" is part of the title of the previous record and it features sampled female words along with other female sampled words reminding me of PORCUPINE TREE. Faint male words can be heard in static. Cool stuff.

"In Times Of Silence" has lots of atmosphere as reserved vocals join in along with strings and more. A song about remorse. It kicks in as he cries "How do you change the world when it doesn't want to change". I can't help but think of the slaughter of all those children on Pakistan that just happened as he sings that. The Defence Minister of Pakistan was quoted as saying "The smaller the casket, the heavier it is to carry". I hear you brother. Growly vocals just before 3 minutes are brief, whispering words late. "For Your Glory, Great Deceiver" has this mechanical atmosphere as low end guitar kicks in followed by growly vocals. They remind me of AGOLLOCH with those sinister growls. Normal vocals and a more upbeat sound arrive before 3 minutes. "Nisi Credideritis, Non Intelligetes" has picked guitars as vocals, bass and drums join in. It kicks in after a minute. Man these lyrics burn a hole in my heart. Extreme vocals after 3 1/2 minutes cry out then proceed to spit out the lyrics. What a climax to this track. "The Mothers Of The Machine" opens with beautiful guitar notes that echo as sampled female spoken words join in. This is the most PORCUPINE TREE track by far especially when we hear clips of George Bush speaking later on with that beat. I'm not big on the last two tracks but "Singularities" is pretty good early on and later as well. Later i'm reminded of ANATHEMA with the depth of sound while early on it's the strummed guitar and heaviness that follows that appeals to me. In between it's the higher pitched vocals and lyrics that get close to being ballad-like. Speaking of which that's how i'd describe the final song "Loves" not surprisingly given it's title. Just not a fan. The bonus track is "The Fire Around The Lotus" from the previous album but it's remastered here and it sounds great.

Another fantastic release from these Brits. I'll be watching for hopefully a new release in the future.

"Life... And All It Entails" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK, Portsmouth based progressive rock/metal act Enochian Theory. The album was released through Mascot Records in February 2012. Enochian Theory toured extensively in 2009 and 2010 in support of their debut full-length studio album "Creatio Ex Nihilio (2009)" (among others with Spock´s Beard), but home from touring and full of inspiration from acquiring new skills on the road, main composer Ben Harris-Hayes (vocals, guitars, keyboards) starting writing the material for "Life... And All It Entails". Once the core compositions where finished drummer Sam Street and bassist Shaun Rayment worked on their parts, before the band entered Aubitt Studios in Southampton, UK with engineer/mixer, Rob Aubrey to record the album. Aubrey is known for his work with IQ, Tony Levin, and Transatlantic.

"Creatio Ex Nihilio (2009)" featured a melacholic and dynamic progressive rock/metal style, which in some ways is similar to the sound and style of artists like Porcupine Tree, Riverside, and Anathema (at least those are the artists who to my ears come to mind most often), and that sound is more or less continued on "Life... And All It Entails". Ben Harris-Hayes strong voice and emotive delivery is a focal point in the music, but there are also instrumental sections, which are quite effectful featured on the album. It´s slow building and atmospheric music, and often mellow melancholic sections are followed by more massive layered and loud sections. Bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, strings, and vocals come together in epic style when the music reaches it´s climaxes.

It´s not the type of progressive rock/metal, which features longer instrumental parts with busy guitar/keyboard work, but instead the compositions are cleverly composed with layers of atmosphere enhancing sounds and effects. It´s quite sophisticated, and what I would characterize as "listening music". While the album does feature some heavy, metal oriented sections, it´s generally not a very metal oriented release. About half-way through the album the clean vocals begin to be complimented by blackened growls though, and those sections are naturally more in the metal mold (especially "For Your Glory, Great Deceiver" and "Singularites" are both quite heavy). Upon initial listens I was not convinced the growling vocals suited the music very well, but more spins have convinced me otherwise.

The quality of the material on the 13 track, 55:20 minutes long album is generally high, and the album features a good flow, where the tracks often seque into each other, to make the album feel like a concept release. I´m not 100% sure if it is though, but my guess would be that there is an overall concept through the album. "Life... And All It Entails" is a well produced album, featuring a warm, pleasant, and detailed sound production, which brings out the best in the material. So upon conclusion it´s a high quality release in most departments. When that is said the material could overall have been a bit more hook laden and prospered from it. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)