SINGLE REVIEW: Enthrall the Weak – “Eye Level” [2015]
Artist: Enthrall the Weak
“Eye Level” – Single
Honesty goes by a variety of names and is the moral to a variety of lessons. It is the “golden rule,” the “best policy,” and so on; however, no idiom or analogy exemplifies honesty as brilliantly as “Eye Level,” the latest single by Ohio’s Enthrall the Weak. “Eye Level” is a no-holds barred attack on the listener, combining relentless aggression, skin-splitting riffs and infectiously catchy clean vocals to break its way into the listener’s head. Home to lyrics enforcing integrity and fortitude, “Eye Level” is a song as thought provocative as it is intense. Well-balanced, remarkably unique and unequivocally heartfelt, “Eye Level” is the sound of a band comfortable with who they are and their sound–and also unafraid to lay it on the listener like a leaden yoke.
“Eye Level” wastes no time in swinging right at the listener’s melon, smashing their temple in. Enthrall the Weak kick-start the track with driving percussion and harsh, grating screams that cave the listener’s skull as if it was made of paper mâché. As “Eye Level” continues, it quickly reaches equilibrium, oscillating between riff-driven moments of metallic intensity and sections of instrumental subtlety that allow the band’s unique clean vocals to soar. Enthrall the Weak’s musicianship is like a thick layer of steel, weighing down on the listener while the band’s harsh vocals echo inside, wearing away their sanity. Only when the band’s clean vocals rear their head does the band’s dense heaviness give way, letting the ultra-melodic singing do what it does best: soar. Enthrall the Weak expertly oscillate between eviscerating intensity and engrossing harmony, leaving no stone unturned as “Eye Level” carves its place on metalcore’s wall of fame.
Enthrall is right—as “Eye Level” does just that. However, there is nothing weak about the music brought to life by this Ohio quintet—unless it’s the weakness in the listener’s knees after they are subjected to the group’s expertise.
