Review: Enthrall the Weak -"Heavy Hearts" [Single]

The great Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” The idea behind his message is simple: put all of your energy into something –your passion, your skill, and your will – and the product of such efforts will take on success in the direction that you make it take.   Embodying this philosophy is none other than Ohio’s Enthrall the Weak. Their latest single, “Heavy Hearts”, takes on a consistently heavy directionality with an aggressively passionate and energetic approach.

Viscous riffs and licks and equally enraged drum fills kick off this track before exploding into an aggressive frenzy of brutal, emotive instrumental and vocal tonality.  Grooving, fast, irate riffs from guitarists Amato and Gray pulsate, swell, and burst with the sudden and fatal intensity of an aneurysm. Drummer Jimmy Amato’s aptly crafted drum fills, cymbal play, and excellent, borderline-insane footwork in his delivery of relentless percussion adds a perfect layer of instrumental passion and tonality. Vocalist David Darlak utilizes a brilliant combination of shouted lyrics and gritty, singeing mid and high screams to deliver a vocal performance that burns with a raw, sizzling intensity of a chemical burn. Multiple interludes abound in the form of savage riffage and short, blistering breakdowns. What truly makes this track special- aside from the ferocious, fast-paced, looming breakdown led by a grooving bass drop from bassist Trace Miller- is the equal parts of collaborative musicianship executed by all members to form an overall perfectly-crafted tonality of persistent and precise brutality.

Enthrall the Weak has crafted an excellent example of the powerful blend of pristine skill, unwavering energy, and passionate, heartfelt musicianship. No singular musical element overpowers the rest as each musician’s skill is masterly interwoven within one another’s to form a perfect  harmony of persistent heaviness. Enthrall the Weak has created more than a track- they’ve managed to take a poetic feeling of emotional weight and combine it with drive and stellar instrumentation to give such a melancholic phenomenon an audible dimension of depth. “Heavy Hearts” is a powerful, refreshing, and passionate track that best exemplifies what it means to go somewhere with all of your heart.

10/10

For Fans Of: Know Lyfe, When Skies Go Black, At No End

Katt Hass