Enemy Remains are a metal band from Newington, Connecticut in the United States. Formed in 2005, they’ve released one full-length album in 2012 and are about to release another one early 2017. The latest record is a mix of hard rock and heavy metal and takes influences from metalcore and alternative metal.
With Steve Zimmerman on drums and Tommy Blardo on guitars, ‘No Faith In Humanity’ is fairly well written with thick layers of guitars and melodic vocals delivered by Frank Morin. It’s a fairly short record, having only seven tracks.
The first track, titled “Colony” is a very short and teasing piano instrumental. It is supposed to open the album up, but due to its length, it felt a bit incomplete and I could have preferred it to be longer. It is soon followed by “Trust In No One” that features elements of Trivium and Killswitch Engage, which is something I noticed all throughout this long play record.
“Divided By Hate” opens very heavy but quickly sits comfortably in a groove with soaring vocal melodies and lackluster growls. I really liked the chorus though. It was very heartfelt. The emotions continue to pour in another instrumental track called “Civilization” which seems to be of a perfect duration, and bridges the previous track to the next one. The strongest track off the record is the title track, “No Faith In Humanity”. The phrasing of the vocals is very familiar to the generic metalcore delivery but it works in the bands advantage as the song is generally enjoyable and is a strong single.
The penultimate track is another strong song called “Breathe Again” and has one of those iconic choruses that the early 2000s were known for. “Empty Inside” is last song off this record is worthy to pump your firsts to and scream. It feels like the album has come a full circle and does justice to the entirety of the record. The production on this album is quite good, having done by Jeffery Weed and Maor Appelbaum. The mixing was conducted by Nick Bellmore at Dexters Lab Recording and was mastered by Chris Zuess Harris and sounds impeccable. The sound is clear and all instruments get a chance to feature.
I think where this album fades a bit is that the sound seems a bit too derived and safe. They’re good at what they do, but the band could have experimented more. It felt like in places, they tried to infuse certain ideas that sounded a bit out of place. On other sections, it felt like they’re pandering to the audience. It’s an enjoyable listen, but it isn’t something that can be termed cutting edge. But this is a hardworking band, pouring their heart out and the honesty in their music is clear and present. No one can take that away from them. The effort and passion is very noticeable.