siLLy puPPy Starting out as a supergroup formed by ex-members of Animosity, Animals As Leaders and The Faceless, the USA based ENTHEOS (as opposed to the Canadian band of the same name) got its start in Santa Cruz, CA before relocating to Nashville, TN. Basically the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist who is the drummer in the live settings Navene Koperweis, this band underwent many lineup changes over the course of its existence that began in 2015 and spanned the course of an EP and three albums, the latest TIME WILL TAKE US ALL which emerged in 2023.

While 2017’s “Dark Future” saw the band as a quartet that relied heavily on keyboards, TIME WILL TAKE US ALL has been whittled down to the mere duo of female vocalist Chaney Crabb and Kopeweis who covers all guitars and drums however former member Evan Brewer does come back only demoted to session musician for whatever reason. This new monstrosity of an album sees the band expand in every conceivable direction with a lot more attention paid to the trippy atmospheres and the outstanding production.

While a technical death metal band, ENTHEOS nurtures a rather psychedelic ambience into TIME WILL TAKE US ALL and employs a mix of stylistic shifts to ensure a more varied album than previous efforts. While the album starts out on sheer brutality mode which showcases that ENTHEOS has lost none of its technical prowess in the ensuing six years since “Dark Future,” the album mellows a bit with “Oblivion” and “I Am The Void” which allows for Chaney Crabb to actually reveal her feminine charm with clean girl singing but wow she can scream and rip like the best tech death metal singers in the business and it’s utterly amazing how guttural growls are fairly genderless in how they are perceived!

TIME WILL TAKE US ALL features nine tracks at over 40 minutes of playing time and although this band has primarily existed as to showcase the technical wizardry of the seasoned veterans on board, this third album reveals that Koperweis is a gifted songwriter in general since the tracks on this third installment allow much more varied passages that range from the usual tech death brutality to surreal stints of psychedelia in the vein of Blood Incantation or other psych death metal bands have conjured up. The beauty is in the details on this one and the fact that Koperweis was in complete control of the project basically means he could take his baby any direction he so chooses and in this case he chose wisely.

With the band’s earliest connections to deathcore, TIME WILL TAKE US ALL showcases all those vocal trade offs between guttural growls and demonically possessed gargling utterances along with a series of various chugging sessions, drumming styles and interesting compositional changes that allow the tracks to drift into a series of changes. The results are quite satisfying as ENTHEOS loses none of the overall brutality of its past but adds so many different layers, recording techniques and sonic flavors that this album is an instantly exciting one. While the chaotic swirls of tech death are never far away, ENTHEOS also chooses to let melodic moments dominate the soundscape for a while. It’s a nice mix between the caustic chaos and the more pleasant placidity of traditional metal moments.

While i was not overly familiar with this band until this release i have to say that i was quite surprised by how well this album is written and recorded. It’s a bonafide treasure as far as crafting a nice diverse palette of sounds that includes groove metal, grunge, jazz, prog and others into the labyrinthine tech death metal workouts. When the melodic parts do occur there are interesting dissonant counterpoints that keep it all from getting even close to cheesy. Koperweis is as much an accomplished guitarist as he is an extraordinary drummer and Chaney Crabb has some of the best female growls out there. A fine example of modern tech death done right. Not that i need my tech death to have moments of melody but it is nice when an album adds some bells and whistles in the production department that offer more onion layers to the mix. If done right it’s magical and this album is really done right.

Time Signature An ever-expanding metal...

Genre: prog-tech death metal

Featuring members who have been involved in the likes of Animosity, The Faceless, Animals As Leaders, and Inferi, Entheos is not a wet-behind-the-ears affair although "The Infinite Nothing" is the band's debut album.

The cumulation of the individual members' experiences definitely makes itself felt on the album. From beginning to end, the listener is treated to impressively complex and sophisticated, yet heavy-as-fuck death metal. From crunchy riffs and heavy breakdowns (that kick the ass of any deathcore out there) through odd time signatures, crushing drumbeats, syncopations and growls/screams to melodic and at times jazzy guitar solos, the listener is taken on a mind-boggling musical journey. To top it off, there are hints of electronica every now and then which actually fit very well into the overall picture.

While probably not everyone's cup of tea, Entheos' "The Infinite Nothing" is definitely a very good tech death metal album which should appeal to any fan of the genre.

UMUR "Primal" is an EP release by US death metal act Entheos. The EP was self-released in March 2015. It´s the band´s first release.

Stylistically the music on the 4 track, 17:48 minutes long EP is technical/progressive death metal with both derivative and contemporary influences showing. Entheos is a very well playing act and they deliver their music with great precision and conviction. Although this is predominantly death metal oriented music, there is a strong Meshuggah influence heard throughout the album. Heavy angular riffs in odd time signatures combined with fast blasting and aggressive "core" tinged growling and screaming.

The sound production is clinical, clear, and powerful. So if you´re looking for organic sounding material/playing... move along. There´s an almost futuristic atmosphere about "Primal" that works really well for the band. Robotic, clinical, clear, sterile, and precision, are just some of the words that are valid when describing the EP.

So there´s no arguing that "Primal" is a pretty interesting and very powerful sounding EP, and there are quite a few positives to mention when rating this release. The less positive is that the tracks aren´t that memorable and that Entheos need to work on a more personal and unique sound. They wear their influences a bit too much on their sleeves for comfort, and with this amount of talent, they should be able to produce something a bit more hook laden (which doesn´t have to compromise extremity) and original. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.