Beginning a band is no easy task, there are many pressures involved with the entire process. Those pressures intensify when you're coming from a previous band that was considered to be fairly popular; it's a double-edged sword. You're pretty much ensured free exposure and publicity based on the fact that the new project gets the "ex-members of..." tagline. But with that comes the expectations from fans and critics. Nine times out of ten they're expecting the re-incarnation of the previous band, and that very rarely happens. This is where Enola Grey currently sits, as they have just released their debut EP.
Cabal is a riff-roaring EP in which Enola Grey shreds through six tracks in just over 17 minutes. Over the course of those songs the band, whether intentionally or not, seems to avoid creating music devoid of off time signatures and constant changeups in the songs' technical structuring, characteristics that were definitive of Martyr A.D. Rather, Enola Grey focus on playing straightforward music that blends early thrash, groove-heavy metal, and just a dash of hardcore.
In their attempts to create music that is incapable of comparison to Martyr A.D., the band has limited themselves to writing fairly predictable music for the genre, though they do hit the occasional magic moment. To find the best example you'd have to listen through the entire EP, or you could just skip all the way to the last track. "I Am Vengeance" fuses all the band's influences into a song that is the marriage of The Haunted's Made Me Do It and Superjoint Ritual's A Lethal Dose of American Hatred.
And while his current bandmates have attempted to distance themselves as best they can from any Martyr A.D. references, vocalist Mike Fisketti picked up exactly where he left off when he left the band in 2002. Throughout the EP, Fisketti delivers deep growls, throaty roars, and ear-piercing shrieks just like he did on The Human Condition In Twelve Factions. He does mix things up a little bit; for example on "Andover" he throws in "clean" vocals which reminded me of Howard Jones in his Blood Has Been Shed days.
In between the madness, Enola Grey gives the listener a breather with the interlude "U.I.M.." I wouldn't call it an instrumental, as it contains no significant instrumentation. There is ambient noise, random sampling of individuals having a discussion, and hidden way down in the mix, very basic guitar notes being played. I suppose it serves its purpose in breaking the songs up, but it's nothing to rave about.
Cabal just doesn't impress me. It's a decent release for its style, but it doesn't bring anything new. The album is lacking in any original aspects. In fact the vocals are the main reason I even bothered listening to this more than once, without them it's a waste of my time. Hopefully, for Enola Grey's sake, Fisketti doesn't decide to up and leave anytime soon.
