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Solo, extreme blackened death metal project Hell’s Enemy explode onto the scene with two ep releases three months apart filled with heavy riffs, bold Christian lyrics and covering multiple styles within the genre.

Hailing from Washington state in the US, Frederick Blauer first started composing fantasy instrumental music in late 2021 releasing Tales from the Land of a Thousand Perils but had played in metal bands from 2008 – 2014 and wanted to start a metal solo project.  His first effort, the Watchful Eye of Night was finished in the spring of 2023 and recently remixed, remastered and is back on Spotify.  In late 2023, he was moving toward converting to Catholicism and seeing a general lack of overtly Catholic bands, decided to write lyrics from a Catholic viewpoint and Hell’s Enemy was born. For those wondering how so much music can be released in such a short amount of time, as it turns out, Frederick is self-employed and as a result has time for music projects to complement the card game he released, Dragonvault (www.dragonvaultgame.com).  According to Frederick, he writes music “obsessively” which explains the prodigious efforts and while this review was in process he released an atmospheric/ambient black metal album West of Eden, which, preview here, is excellent and will get its own review as the style is different than these ep’s. Note: instrumental versions of both ep’s are available on Spotify, YouTube, and Bandcamp as well.

Hymns of Eternal Victory

First thing one notices with Hell’s Enemy is the Lamb on the cover of Hymns of Eternal Victory, which is a depiction of the description of Christ in Revelation chapter 5..the lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes, sure to raise some eyebrows. Fittingly, the ep opens up with “The Lamb of God”, lyrically bold in describing Jesus Christ.  What strikes me immediately is the passion in the vocals which are a mix of deep death metal growls and screams at times bordering almost on grindcore style.  Short drum burst and then a heavy, marching riff takes over and double bass drums back an unrelenting guitar, which later shifts to an almost groove with vocals alternating between screams and growls.  Production and mixing are biased a bit toward the guitar and vocals but not in an overly bad way.

“Crushing the Head of the Snake” takes lyrical inspiration from Revelation as well and has some great pummeling riffs between the verse sections.  What I’ve already come to appreciate with the project after two songs is the variety built into the compositions from the musical standpoint as solo projects, especially extreme music ones, tend to be a bit one-dimensional but that is not the case here.  Throw in more vocal elements here with almost clean shouted vocals building into screams and some whispers and the song works really well.

“Inevitable Doom of the Wicked” speeds things up a bit and has a good guitar solo and then “Parseltongue” comes in with fast, near thrash riffs in the beginning and a great mix of vocal styles and tempo changes as the song attacks false prophets masquerading as Christian.  The speed and ferocity of the song really hit hard.  The ep closes with “Psalm 23” with the words of scripture being delivered in a quiet voice backed by solemn guitar and a solid drum line.

As a first release for a solo project, this is quite an effort.  Heavy on guitars, which is not unexpected but solid production, the mix of vocal styles and the passion in their delivery  and variations in the song structure keep the project interesting for the listener. 

Rating: 7/10

Tracklist – Hymns of Eternal Victory

  1. Behold the Lamb of God
  2. Crushing the Head of the Snake
  3. The Harrowing of Hell
  4. Mortification
  5. The Inevitable Doom of the Wicked
  6. Parseltongue
  7. Psalm 23

Release Date: April 25, 2024

No Dawn for Demon Kind

As “Do Not Choose Damnation” started with the fast death/grind riff, I was expecting this ep to be more of the same from Hymns of Eternal Victory, but then the song shifted into a heavy near groove riff for the verses and the song continued to change from there.  I hear elements of Antestor in the music here and the mournful solo works really well within the song which is a call for repentance.

Even more stylistic changes show up in “Fueled by the Holy Spirit”.  The gravelly whispers in the opening of the song really set the overall tone and the variations in the vocals often within the same line of lyrics is something that add impact to words being delivered.  The quiet bass and drum interlude in the middle with the whispers that builds into a near breakdown section hit hard.

“Goliath’s Demise” starts out with a heavy marching riff fitting the subject matter as the Israelites and Philistines march toward each other in battle and incorporating the language in the actual verses describing David versus Goliath will certainly add impact for some listeners. The shift in vocals here to shouted for some sections and the guitar fills are nice additions.

“Spiritual Warfare” goes in a bit of a different direction, leaning toward metallic hardcore like that of All Out War and honestly is great to hear.  Another heavy mid-tempo riff and shouted vocals shift to galloping speed in just the manner that makes pits explode when performed live. This ep closes out with the standout track “Our Lady of Victory” a song that has it all, fast sections, breakdown sections, guitar and drum fills, full range of vocal styles and delivery, and unabashedly bold Christian lyrics delivered with passion and conviction.

The second ep from Hell’s Enemy in the matter of months is impressive itself given the quality in the first one, Hymns of Eternal Victory.  Given that, expectations were high going into this one but my expectations were far exceeded.

Rating: 8.5/10

Tracklist – No Dawn for Demon Kind

  1. Do Not Choose Damnation
  2. Fueled by the Holy Spirit
  3. Goliath’s Demise
  4. Spiritual Warfare
  5. No Dawn for Demon Kind
  6. The Impotence of Pagan Gods
  7. Eternal Death
  8. Our Lady of Victory

Release Date: June 21, 2024

Record Label: Wyrmslayer Records

Band Members
Frederick Blauer – all instruments, vocals

Weblinks
Bandcamp for Hymns of Eternal Victory: https://hellsenemy.bandcamp.com/album/hymns-of-eternal-victory   
Bandcamp for No Dawn for Demon Kind: https://hellsenemy.bandcamp.com/album/no-dawn-for-demon-kind 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellsenemymusic/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiPYT-AHLj5ME2KN589n2Dw  
Wyrmslayer Records: https://wyrmslayerrecords.com/

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