UMUR
"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.