ALL HAIL ENABLER’S ALL HAIL THE VOID
Like the cover for Terrorizer’s Hordes of Zombies, Enabler’s album art for All Hail the Void seems to have been drawn by an angry teenager who’s stuck in detention — but unlike the adolescent miscreant who drew those Hordes, the juvenile delinquent behind the Void may be legit disturbed. The artist of the Hordes cover sees the world as a place where karma rules and bad things happen to bad people (note The Zombie Pope), and he has a dark sense of humor about this shit — like, “Wouldn’t be if hilarious and awesome if mankind met its end at the hands of a zombie plague?” But the artist of the Void cover sees the zombies only as mindless slaves of some larger force, not so easily explained. Both kids love George Romero and EC Comics, but one of them has also dropped acid and watched 2001 and Gaspar Noé movies (like oh hey this one maybe).
Understanding the difference between these two album covers will help you understand the difference between the two bands, too — both are sandpaper-fuck raw, but Enabler have approached the art of inflicting pain from a druggier, and dare I say more introspective, place. Terrorizer might throw battery acid in your face, but Enabler will put it in a syringe and inject it directly into your urethra.
If I had heard Enabler’s All Hail the Void earlier, it most certainly would have appeared my own Best of 2012 Thus Far list; it already appeared on Satan Rosenbloom’s, and Vince has sung it’s praises, too. The bottom line is, every single part of All Hail the Void is catchy and fun without every being too poppy, and the album features not one but TWO of the very best elephants marching riffs I’ve heard this year, on the title track and the song “They Live, We Sleep” (Carpenter FTW). I’ve listened to this album at least once every day for almost two weeks, and I’m not sick of it yet — not by a mile.
All Hail the Void comes out July 17 on Southern Lord, but you don’t have to wait ’til then to hear it — it’s streaming right now at Blowthescene.com. DO YOURSELF A SOLID AND LISTEN TO IT IMMEDIATELY. It’s like magic, if magic resulted in the untimely death of everyone you’ve ever loved.
-AR
