By Monk
The EP format has one which has been long favoured, especially by many emerging bands – and, unlike a lot of other websites, championed here on ÜR – due to the many benefits it brings: an EP is much easier, much cheaper to record and release, can give listeners a quick and easy snapshot of what the band are all about, and also serve as a worthy stopgap between full-length releases, which is something that has made the format also increasingly popular with many more established acts, especially in the current COVID era. Sometimes, bands deliberately plan a series of interlinked EPs, deliberately formatted so that, when the finished “series” has been released, they basically formulate what could be seen to be a full album, without the hassle and strains of having to do it all in one go… Of course, that approach can be fraught with difficulties, such as the development and progression of the band’s sound meaning that the second/third/whatever EP is the series sounds totally different from the first – or a change in band members brings a new dynamic, which results in a similar end game.
I’m not sure if Texas thrashers Overt Enemy ultimately planned to release their first two EPs as a single entity, and, indeed, the combination of 2018’s ‘Inception’ and last year’s ‘Possession’ does seem like more of a pandemic-induced afterthought, as well as one of those aforementioned stopgap releases, especially when you consider that this combined edition also comes with instrumental and demo versions of seven of the eight tracks featured on the original releases and is also, in itself, a pre-cursor to the band’s debut album, which is due next year.
It has to be said that it’s not hard to tell that Overt Enemy started their collective musical lives as a Slayer tribute act, especially in terms of the acerbic, blackened edge to the vocals, which very much emulate, to the extent of accurately mimicking, those of Tom Araya. Where they diverge from the more recognizable Slayer-esque sound, however, is in the fact that there is very little weight to the bottom end: yes, there are some very effective blastbeats but, at least on the first EP, it sounds as if the bass has been totally eschewed from the mix, meaning that the overall tone is just a touch too light, where a much more lugubrious approach would have made the impact all the more impressive.
What ‘Inception x Possession’ does do, however, is showcase a band endeavouring to step out of the quagmire of the tribute scene and stamp their own identity on proceedings. It showcases a band in the early stages of their development, and it does, at it most basic level, evoke some of the excitement energized by those early Metal Blade releases. Hopefully it gives the guys a platform on which to build something more solid, and that the aforementioned album fulfils some of the more promising moments which are displayed here, particularly in relation to the vocals and the guitar harmonies.
- ‘Inception x Possession’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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