Band:	Ensnared
Album:	Inimicus Generis Humani
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	February 14, 2020
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. Interlude I
02. Spiritual Necrosis
03. The Throne Of Transformation
04. Interlude II
05. Disciples Of The Whip
06. Interlude III
07. Katharsis Through Terror
08. Black Hole Acolytes

Swedish death metal may have its stereotypes, but damn it if they aren't well-earned.

Ensnared follow a long list of established death metal practitioners from their homeland with more of the same you'd come to expect, but that doesn't mean Inimicus Generis Humani isn't an album worth listening to. It remains true to the old guard, steadfast in its reverence of cultural nuance and historical evolution (or lack thereof), and will be a particularly enjoyable listen for anyone who's been overwhelmed by the swathes of mechanically produced, hyper-technical, progressive meandering death metal albums being churned out on a consistent basis. While a niche target demographic, to be sure, it's almost refreshing coming across an outfit solely dedicated to making the music they want to, all stylistic confines considered, independent of how their creation is received.

Now, the words written up to this point might indicate that this is a simple paint-by-numbers death metal album, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Inimicus Generis Humani is dripping with blues influence, particularly in regard to the jazzy drum patterns and playful lounge-style interludes. This formulates a somewhat relaxing, sort of lulling atmosphere, constantly breaking from the straightforward moments once the aggression levels reach their peak to help settle things down before kicking up again. The rock 'n' roll litter scattered throughout the album approaches Entombed territory at times, though never in such a heavy-handed manner. This mashup of styles isn't exclusive to this album, as their previous release, Dysangelium, displays a nearly identical list of features, to extremely similar results.

There's a surprising amount of subtlety thrown into this blender, though the success of its overall execution is something deserving of being questioned. That pervasive archetypal Swedish melodic backdrop carries each song from start to finish, with the down-tuned crunchy guitar sound tanking the bulk of the filler material. There's more than enough of that to go around, so as not to completely shift the Ensnared name out of the mouths of extreme metal addicts looking for their next hit, but they repeatedly temper themselves in a way that might dissuade certain members of the audience from latching onto the proverbial nipple. All is not unicorns and rainbows here, as the songwriting does suffer from a bit of a disconnect between these stylistic differences being forcefully mashed together, and the disjointed flow is thusly disruptive to the immersive experience an album should offer a listener. At times this has masterpiece qualities to it, but it saturates itself with an overabundance (or reliance) of those aforementioned breaks in the chains. If only a tad more streamlined and proportionately balanced between its opposing elements, this is the kind of release that could easily make its way into "album of the year" discussion. Unfortunately, that isn't the case here, but the potential on display has this reviewer eagerly anticipating future material.