The Great Dying - Enhalo (Review)

I am a sucker for extreme music - and what intrigues me the most is the recent stuff the new bands put out. That's how you know where a genre is headed towards. From the city of Dallas (Texas), I was able to find Nicholas Nicoletti, an independent musician with roots in progressive and technical metal. Under the name of Enhalo, he is releasing “The Great Dying”, the debut album almost ten years in the making and written in his bedroom. As he would describe: “From heavy guitars to ripping solos, there is a bit of my spirit in each aspect of the album”. Having finally got a copy of the album, I can finally share my thoughts. So without any further ado, let’s jump into the discussion!

The album intro “GAZING INTO THE ABYSS” starts off with a pompous cinematic buildup along with brass melodies, choir vocals and keyboard parts before shedding its skin to reveal its true musical potential. Halfway through the song, the lead guitar takes over with its baroque neoclassical influence. With all the blank canvas the bass and drums provide, the guitar work of Nicholas paints it beautifully. As obscure as the main riff to “STARING BLACK” may sound (added to its polyrhythmic jazzy drum section in the back), make sure to not skip this! Quickly building up for its heavier sections, the riffs are fast and catchy as f**k with a lot of technical elements incorporated. Along the three minutes mark, the song shifts to a jazzy-prog realm with atmospheric elements, even adding a synth solo by the guest artist Jimmy Pitts (This section reminds me a lot of Home Invasion/Regret #9 by Steven Wilson). Following this is a guitar solo that leads us back into the death metal realm again. Not to miss the breakdown-ish outro with the atmospheric passages in the back!

“PURIFIER” has a melancholic vibe to it - with its serene intro that leads into the technical realm, a sense of distinct pensive melody rings through your ears through each passing second. With a lot of dense layers of guitar leads and solos, Nicholas gets to channelize his musical creativity thoroughly. Having a Dream Theater-ish vibe to itself, “SHARP HIPS AND SHORT VIBRATIONS” showcases some fancy polyrhythm action in its starting moments itself. With a lot of dynamic changes, the song slowly shifts to another dimension with electronic synth passages. It's almost like a journey that lifts you to a higher dimension - A Transcendental Journey. Ending the anthology, is an epic ten minutes long “A MOMENT FROZEN IN TIME” - a track that oscillates between the boundaries of beauty and brutality. It is fast and technical in moments while being melodic, atmospheric and proggy in other moments. Also, don’t miss out on the incredible bass solo present. Some elements from other genres like mathcore, black metal influences and djent breakdowns show up too - which shows the diversity the record possesses.

“The Great Dying” is a dense record. From pulling in influences from the realms of tech-death and progressive metal together is rare, and only few bands like Persefone manage to pull it efficiently. Nicholas Nicoletti takes you on a same trip of musical mashup through his debut album. Being an instrumental album gives Nicholas the freedom to execute his potentials to his true powers - which are evident from the tracks like “STARING BLACK” and “A MOMENT FROZEN IN TIME”. The man completely gives his best and is evident thoroughly through the final product. “The Great Dying” does add up for a memorable record to Enhalo’s discography, and Nicholas Nicoletti is definitely the wizard of it!

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Website: https://enhalo.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-dying

Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal

Worldwide Release: April 8th, 2022.