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Sworn Enemy - Beginning of the End

Rating

RIYL

Terror
Madball
100 Demons
Hatebreed

Label

Abacus Recordings

Tracklist

1. Forgotten
2. Scared Of The Unknown
3. Beginning Of The End
4. Save Your Breath
5. Absorb The Lies
6. All I Have
7. We Hate
8. No Second Chances
9. After The Fall
10. Here Today
11. Weight Of The World

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

There’s one thing you think of when you hear someone saying they've got a heavy band from New York City that you have to hear. Tough guy hardcore! You know the type. It’s that attitude that “I’m going to beat every bastard in this place because I’m hardcore” attitude. Sworn Enemy, though, doesn’t quite fit into that mold. They certainly exhibit that proud NY swager, but they are far from tough guy hardcore.

Heavy music is rarely successful on major labels. It is no surprise that Elektra, even though being home to Metallica, didn’t work out for Sworn Enemy. It seems those labels are never able to give these type of acts proper attention. As such, it is fitting that the guys found a home at Abacus Recordings.

On their second major release, Beginning of the End, there is a healthy amount of hardcore, but it bleeds a healthy dose of metal from its veins too. Dare I say it might be metalcore? The direction of this album might have something to do with its producer, Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying fame.

An excerpt from the bands biography states “Revolving around topics of politics, religion and everyday life, the new album showcases the band in their element, delivering heavy-hitting music with themes anyone can relate to.” The problem, as with most metalcore releases today, is the lack of defining material. You will find plenty of dueling guitar solos and double bass kicks within this album, but I found myself losing interest after only a few spins of the album.

Sworn Enemy have the distinction of having been in the metalcore game since 1997. Without their work, metalcore would not be in the same place today. They’ve succeeded in pioneering a genre, but with the influx of new bands to the scene in recent years, there are others who sound fresher.

--Jared Mehle

Author

jared

Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:54PM

Comments

tim

02/08/2006

09:01PM

Age: 28

Location
Green Brook, NJ

uh .. what? i'm not even going to start with this one. oh wait, yea i am. first of all, elektra folded. it's not like sworn enemy 'didn't work out' like you said. the label doesn't exist anymore. but when they were around, they promoted the hell out of sworn enemy and the band sold a lot of records for a hardcore band. and uh, dude, they're not even close to being metalcore. what the hell kind of crack are you smoking? this release is also a lot better than you make it out to be.

Rick Gebhardt

02/08/2006

10:03PM

Age: 31

Location
Minnesota

Eh, I'm with Jared on this one. Pretty mediocre disc. Nothing stood out to me as being amazingly awesome. The band might have "street cred" for being around forever, but that doesn't help this cd from being average.

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