The dichotomy that seemingly oozes from every pore of Milwaukee’s Enabler is what makes their music so compelling, interesting and groundbreaking.
Take, for example, The Heathens and Speechless, the second and third songs of the band’s debut full-length. The main riffs in both are part-inky crustcore with a sinister edge, part-infectiously catchy, punky thrash metal. This, as a quirky, post-math rock flair, spins guitar flourishes and juts its way under a battery acid-drenched larynx straining about mankind’s ills.
Featuring vocalist/guitarist Jeff Lohrber (who has played in Today Is The Day, Trap Them, Dead To Fall, Shai Hulud and Harlots) and an ex-Fall Out Boy (drummer Andy Hurley), this clash of musical worlds gives the perfect indication of Enabler’s style.
Darkness descends in the form of desolate-sounding 90s melodic metallic hardcore and Swedish kängpunk driven by the unquestionable catchiness of the d-beat rhythms and sounds from the roughshod Tragedy, His Hero Is Gone and From Ashes Rise school. And while the song True Love demonstrates all these ingredients best, there isn’t a single minute of filler on this modern-day, heart-stopping classic.
