Our Last EnemyAs Above So Below (EP)

After radio-silence for nearly close to a decade, Sydney Industrial Metal four-piece Our Last Enemy remerged last year and after slowly drip feeding the masses with a handful of singles, the group have unleashed their new EP As Above So Below.

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Opening tune A Thousand Visions is the most unashamedly melodic track on the release, with clean guitars giving way to layers of keyboards and synths, and packing an almost danceable, up tempo chorus.

The rest of the songs sees the band leaning on the heavier side, with thick riffs and machine gun drums locking together, with harsh industrial samples and apocalyptic keys adding layers of colour to the band’s sound. While Our Last Enemy’s influences are worn obviously on their collective sleeves, quality songwriting mostly keeps things from sounding stale and falling into repetition—such as Never Coming Back thunderous marching-into-war bridge, while the big half-time outro of Long Time Coming serves as another melodic highlight.

As Above So Below will no doubt keep their fanbase happy, as well as hopefully open more national and international doors in the world on industrial/gothic metal for the group.

Frontman Oliver Fogwell’s multi-faceted vocals are dynamic whether he’s screaming or employing clean singing, but the heavy use of distortion on his voice causes him to get buried in the mix at times, especially when competing in with downtuned guitars and John Sankey’s steamrolling drum work. While COVID-19 may have nixed Our Last Enemy’s plans for a full-length album, As Above So Below will no doubt keep their fanbase happy, as well as hopefully open more national and international doors in the world on industrial/gothic metal for the group.

STICK THIS NEXT TO: Fear Factory, Static-X, Ministry

TRACKLISTING
1. A Thousand Visions
2. Never Coming Back
3. Long Time Coming
4. The Holy Ones
5. Decline Atrophy