All Hail the Void was a promising release for Enabler in 2012. The Milwaukee, WI (now Ohio, in general, no specific city listed) band sought a name for themselves by fusing elements of metallic hardcore with groove-laden rock and roll. The album was a solid release that showcased excellent riffage, badass drumming and solid structure. Two years later, enter their latest full length La Fin Absolue Du Monde. Translated: the absolute end of the world.

When I think in apocalyptic visions, Enabler's latest offer isn't quite something I have in mind. Calvaiire's “Meurtrières” is a song that always sounded more like a world collapse. Though “Prey” gives it a run for its money. Anyway, La Fin Absolue Du Monde is an album that sticks with its sound and solidifies the grounds that the band built themselves upon.

La Fin Absolue Du Monde sounds more focused than All Hail the Void. Just about every aspect of the band has significantly improved. Jeffrey Lohrber's guitar riffage is absolutely haywire. Tracks like “Balance of Terror” and “Neglect” are chock full of hooks and groove through the speakers. Other pieces like “World Sterilization” - bringing the heavy with crunchy, rough riffs, and the aforementioned “Prey” are faster pieces that blast with vitriol. Songs are consistently interesting and seldom feel like they're taking up too much time or falling flat.

What I find most strange with this album is how incredibly easy it is to digest, and perhaps that's what didn't sit too well with me at first. I'll admit, when I first listened to this, I was not a huge fan. However, the more I listened to it, the more it began to sink in. I can see why someone would be put off by the approach but I can also see why someone would dig it. La Fin Absolue Du Monde has an exceptional rock and roll angle to it but it services the album very well in the end. To those who might have a difficult time getting into that, I say stick with it. The more I listened to this, the more it picked up steam.

Overall, the new Enabler is a good album but it's not the end of the world, despite its title. I don't know how many more spins I'll give it before the year is out but it has some great song writing and some amazing riffage/drumming. Enabler manages to be one of the more stand out metallic/hardcore bands out there though I'd say their best is yet to come. If you like bands like Tragedy or From Ashes Rise and wish they had a larger rock and roll edge to them, then La Fin Absolue Du Monde is going to be right up your alley.

Christopher Luedtke

Band info: www.facebook.com/enablerband
Label info: www.thecompoundrecs.com

Chris is a film reviewer for Examiner.com (good luck finding his work there) and journalist for Metal Injection (better luck finding his work there). In his spare time he video blogs and promises a second installment of the Guilty Gear Retrospective on YouTube under theOfficialChris. He also writes novels, applies for jobs, attempts to write music, eats cheap food, drinks lots of coffee, enjoys opera, worships grind, and works. He can be found posting songs and bitching about the awful V/H/S film franchise on Twitter: @CoffeeCupReview.

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Since the release of their acclaimed debut album "All Hail the Void" in 2012, Milwaukee’s four-piece Enabler have been constantly on and off the road, bringing their powerful and filthy crust-metal sound across two continents and who knows how many countries.
Guitarist and vocalist, Jeffrey Lohrber, recently took a moment out of his busy schedule to share with Scratch the Surface some of his road stories and the band’s future recording plans. Here’s what he had to say.

First things first, how are things in the Enabler camp at the moment? You have been playing shows with Early Graves and Weekend Nachos lately and before that you had an extensive European tour with Rotten Sound and Martyrdod. How did that go?

"The shows have been great for the most part. I've been playing in bands now for about 13-14 years, since I was a little kid, and touring for about 10-11 years. A good chunk of that time was spent playing or touring with bands that I did not personally enjoy. Don't get me wrong, there are some great people in some of these bands, but the music just sucks in my opinion. I love that with Enabler we play with primarily bands that I enjoy personally and musically. Rotten Sound and Martyrdod are both just killer bands, we've actually toured with Martyrdod twice now and they are like family. Weekend Nachos and Early Graves are both also just awesome bands and great people. We also just played a few shows with Dead in the Dirt who are fucking awesome. Just sharing the stage with people that you have mutual respect for makes all the difference in the world when it comes to touring."

Ever since the band has released their debut album "All Hail the Void" in 2012, you have been constantly on tour, driving across the U.S. and playing everywhere. Where are you going to get the energy to keep this relentless pace?

"Honestly, I don't think we've been as busy as you think. We all have jobs and have a home life that we have to maintain. We're not the band who is on tour 10 months out of the year. We're playing about 80 - 100 shows a year, and we try to make the shows we play count. We try to make sure that we're playing shows that we would want to pay to go to. I've had friends that have gone through the 250 shows a year lifestyle, and for the most part it got them nowhere. They weren't able to maintain their bands due to such heavy touring and they exhausted their fans by coming through every city in the states 6 times a year."

What's the weirdest thing that's happened to you on tour that wouldn't be incriminating to share?

"Our former bassist once was blacked out drunk and started jerking off while laying next to me and yelling his girlfriends name, this was after he passed out on the phone with her. I ran to the other side of the room. He then pissed himself and woke up in the van the next morning with no pants on. Maybe there's a reason he's out of the band and Amanda joined..."

What are your favourite and least favourite parts of touring, and being in stuck in a van with other guys for days in a row?

"Sitting in a van with your best friends to play shows every night all around the world is just straight up fun. I love live performance more than anything else in life. So I guess you could say I was born for this lifestyle. My least favorite thing is how exhausting the lifestyle can get, and how hard it is to recover when you get home. We're usually straight back at work the day we come home from tour, and our bosses all think we're on fucking vacation or something!"

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"I personally love live performance more than anything else in life."

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I noticed there’s an Australian tour schedule for July, are you looking forward to this particular trek? I believe it’s your first time playing there.

"Absolutely. Being able to travel the world doing what I love most is an absolute honor."

As mentioned above, you released your debut full-length, "All Hail the Void" a year ago and recently you have issued a new EP called “Shift of Redemption”. Why release an EP now, did you want to get some older material out before writing another record?

"The recording session for AHTV took about 18 days of tracking, and the producer / guitarist at the time Greg Thomas took about 3 months to edit and mix this record. I was very impatient, and also although AHTV is a record that I am 100% proud of, it came out a little more "produced" than I would have liked. The 4 songs for the Shift EP were written in the time that I was just waiting to hear AHTV, I was very frustrated at not hearing any kind of finalized product and basically having all the work tracking I had just done taken out of my hands. The idea was to put out some short and fast that sounded like a band playing in your living room where as AHTV is just a little to clean for my taste."

Regarding new material, I read that you recently recorded a bunch of new songs, are those destined for the next album? If so, what can we expect from this upcoming new work?

"We just demoed out 3 new songs with our friend Cole from the band The Crinn. The idea was to just get in the studio with our new drummer and lay down some new tracks to see how everything was sounding. We're very happy with everything and these songs will be released on various upcoming splits 7". I am knee deep in the dead with new songs right now. I really love all of the new songs, the AC/DC and Amebix influences are at an all time high, but it's hidden in there and the songs are very pissed and very melodic. I think if AHTV was Enabler's stamp in the heavy music world, this next record will make sure you won't forget that stamp. The plan right now is to track in November. Stay tuned..."

More info at: http://enablerband.com
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Not even a year went by since Milwaukee’s crust metallers Enabler literally kicked my ass with their powerful sophomore album “All Hail The Void”, and now they return with another brave drubbing of crust-influenced hardcore-meets-metal fury.
Intense and brutal from start to finish, “Shift of Redemption” kicks and screams in less than twelve minutes with the kind of go-for-the-throat savagery you’d expect, with no subtleties, no breaks, nothing but frills-free aggression.
The title track shows the band dishing out the same gut-churning intensity that made their previous work such a caustic and brutal release, pure hardcore rage delivered with a crusty snarl. Things get even nastier on the following track “Live Low” with vocalist Jeffrey Lohrber repeatedly screaming the words ‘fuck you, fuck you, fuck you forever’ on top of a frantic slab of raging crust and hardcore-infused metal. The remaining two songs, “Sacrifice” and “Fallselflessly”, see Enabler slowing down the tempo a tad to churn out some killer, catchy, yet equally violent riffs.
Any fan of this band will certainly not be disappointed, because I’m not kidding when I say that “Shift of Redemption” will beat you black and blue. 

Band info: www.facebook.com/enablermke
Label info: www.thinkfastrecords.com

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