Review: “Descent Into Madness” by Enterprise Earth

The exit of long time drummer Brandon Zackey to join fellow Deathcore skull crushers Whitechapel in 2024 left the casualty rate at somewhere approaching seventeen musicians in the eleven years that Spokane Washington collective Enterprise Earth have been in the game. Since 2022 and vocalist Dan Watson’s departure, there have been no original members in the group leaving guitarist, backing vocalist and studio guru Gabe Mangold as the sole heir to the throne having served since 2017. His first official involvement in a recording capacity was on 2019 album “Luciferous” and since then the outfit have gone from strength to strength, cementing their place as not only full time musicians but also on the global touring circuit. A year after the hour long beast “Death: An Anthology” arrived via MNRK Music, the quartet have decided to release twenty six minute EP “Descent into Madness” independently. The record marks the bands first recording with drummer Aron Hetsko who has been playing live with the outfit since 2023. Mixed and mastered by Mangold and adorned by artwork from Chris Maxwell, curiously enough the record has drum engineering by legendary producer Jason Suecof (Trivium, Six Feet Under, Job For A Cowboy) at Audio Hammer Studios.

If the haunting artwork didn’t give you enough of an idea, the evil spoken word at the start of “I. The Descent” sends a shiver down the spine as Enterprise Earth burst into a blend of spine juddering DJent and Death Metal riffs galore. A man on a mission, Travis Worland spits and snarls his way through the lyrical narrative with urgency, painting a vivid picture of a protagonist living a miserable life of dark depression. At times he sounds like a demon, calling from within with surprisingly catchy lines like “Kerosene in your mouth, suffering is the only way out! Kerosene is in your mouth, you know the only way is to burn it out!” ones you may find yourself repeating even on the first spin. After that brutal start “II. Words In Whispers” descends into Tech-Metal with blistering riffage from Mangold as Worland demonstrates his vocal range, reaching and touching the void into Slam with some seriously blood gargling moments. Blast beats from Hetsko hit like an artillery shelling, the deep groove of the bombastic DJent guitars giving the cut the instantly appealing addictive quality of a designer drug. Maintaining the flow and ensuring the thunderstorm continues “III. Shadows Below” is pure fire and brimstone. As lethal as the venom of a poisonous snake, this one has an aching melody during a clean chorus underpinned by throat splitting uncleans before bursting into a fleeting solo and blast beats galore. The choruses add an almost ethereal and yet epic quality to the track enabling the band to play with light and shade in violent delight.

Stepping out of the shadow of DJent “IV. Chasms of Hell” offers up some Lamb Of God style Groove Death riffs in the opening refrains. Changing gears rapidly through a neck snapping breakdown passage, a whirlwind of percussive battery and some fleeting leads returns us to Deathcore with an almighty thump. Slam is fully embraced at the middle with Worland sounding schizophrenic before an epic Death Metal solo rises like a phoenix from the ashes. The textures in this cut alone are incredible, darkness and light intertwining to offer a wealth of nuance at every twist and turn. The spine juddering “V. Enough.” is arguably the heaviest cut on the record, a Humanity’s Last Breath inspired piece that borders of Thrall that you can picture Buster Odeholm himself smiling at and when it ends you’re left wanting more, which is always a good sign. An melodic passage at the start of “VI. Shapeshifter” may catch you off guard because its a fleeting moment of respite before fuel is poured on the fire and the band come out all guns blazing. There are hints at Black Metal influences with a couple of passages and some more clean vocals in the madness, the quartet pushing their sonic boundaries in all directions in the process. Mangold pulls out a spellbinding solo before Worland in protagonist character roars “What have you done to me?!” and the track ends with madness inducing hell sounds. A concept record with sonic abrasions clearly designed and scaled for a huge live production and pyrotechnics, this half an hour of power sounds nothing short of monstrous [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. I. The Descent
2. II. Words In Whispers
3. III. Shadows Below
4. IV. Chasms of Hell
5. V. Enough.
6. VI. Shapeshifter

“Descent Into Madness” by Enterprise Earth is out 30th January 2025 and is available over at bandcamp