Link: Enlow’s MySpace Page.
The Inside Pulse: Well, Christians have adapted every other form of popular music to deliver their message, so why not hardcore? Hailing from smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt (Tulsa, OK), Enlow is a quintet that merges the hard-driving guitars, heavy drums, and screaming vocals of hardcore with the positive messages of Christian bands. With their newest release, The Recovery, Enlow is hoping to expand their music and message to a wider audience.
Positives: The band is fairly tight musically, as guitarists Aaron Johnson and Chris Hicks lay down some crunching guitar riffs over the heavy rhythms of bassist Michael Franco and drummer Myk Karasek. Joel Holmes’s vocal style meshes well with his band, as he’s never overpowered by the music nor does the music overpower him.
Negatives: First off, the album sounds like one long, continuous song, instead of nine separate compositions. And, for a Christian band, the message should be the primary focal point, but Holmes’s lyrics are nearly indecipherable, which is a common shortcoming of most hardcore bands. And, quite frankly, there’s nothing here to distinguish them from any other hardcore group musically.
Cross-breed: Blood of the Martyr and Jesus Wept are a couple of examples of Christian hardcore bands, if you’re interested. But in reality, they all sound like pretty much any other hardcore group.
Reason to buy: If you like to receive testimony while in the pit, this is your band. Actually, that’s a bit unfair. They’re not bad; there’s just nothing here other than their Christianity to make them stand out.
