Banging your head against the wall doesn’t only mean getting bruises on your forehead, cracking your skull and watching shimmering lights, if you are persistent enough, a record can be born. The third release of this Torelló based band ENZE is a cry out for escaping from a world full of suffering. It is an amazing attempt to go towards the unknown, beyond life. Their new album “Romança a les bèsties” wants to teach us how to live with death, daily. It wants to make us understand that death is an indivisible part of what we are currently living.
Recorded on May 2019 by Javi Félez at Moontower Studios (Terrassa), mastered by Brad Boatright at AudioSiege Sonic (Portland), and seasoned by an amazing artwork from Rodrigo Almanegra, “Romança a les bèsties” is available now via Seitan’s Hell Bike Punks, CGTH Records, La Purga Records, LA SOJA, The Braves Records.
They don’t need grey hair nor alopecia for blasting solemn sounds, the five members of the band are on their thirties and gather their experience form many bands from their area such as Tröpical Iceland, Desperdicios, Blak or Wood. It is from this last formation where we get the voice that during these last years has electrified Enze again. Both sharing the same name, when Marc Costa (Canya Records) decided to give a rest to his pipes, Marc Fernandez took over. Fernandez, singer and guitar player from Wood, has given a new life to a band that has been a noise generator since 2014.
If Incendis (2014) set the bases of a swelled post-hardcore with unintelligible screams and Us estimo rebels, lliures I salvatges (2016) shaped the math and metal sounds that define them, now they are coming back as a mature band with a conceptual record. The six tracks in Romança a les bèsties create the most crafted project of the band. The guys have been able to create a story, organized by chapters with panoramic landscapes, with a much more open style to the ones we were used to. The novelty is the arid air from post-rock, slipping through all the tracks, creating sad but beautiful transitions which empower the blasting sounds surrounding them.
The links are incredibly accurate and go like clockwork. The two first tracks, “Romança a les bèsties” and “Mortalla”, work as two parts of a common idea, separated by an interlude of cybernetic synthetisers, reminiscent of the Scottish band Mogwai. The target is not clear anymore, the complexity of the tracks has lost importance in favour of the path they draw and what they ask for. It is curious that the most complete record from this Torelló band is the least virtuous. This doesn´t mean that there are no impossible guitars, drum breaks which will destroy your spine if you try to repeat them or sudden changes that leave you in shock. All these elements are there, but just to serve what each track requires. They have tamed the beasts without chains nor muzzles and have set them free, while watching from the clouds.
Defeater, Fjort, Deafheaven or their admired and close by band Based on a Lie are names that will pop in your head while listening to these new Enze. Nevertheless, the instrumental essence is still there, as well as their archaic imaginary that impregnates anything they touch; from the vinyl looking like marble to the name of the band (“enze” is a catalan word for somebody with no common sense), going through the lyrics, that need an entire extra chapter for them.
Comments the band: “Despite having two previous albums loaded with punk rock resources combined with screamo, we have always been great lovers of post-harcore, and we like to admit that our ideas are nourished by bands like Defeater, Touché Amoré or La Dispute. The math-core is quite present in some of the themes of this latest release because we are lovers of changes in tempo and rhythm and we love convoluted structures, which go beyond the use of standard compasses. You will also find in this album several atmospheric instrumental parts, because, in some way, we need to amortize the hours we pay our physio due to the heavy weight of pedalboard that guitarists use on every show.”
As a conceptual record revolving around the idea of living death, it is full of splendour and suffering. Like if the fact of living was a torture that can only be endured through the intensity of music and belting out the words. Not even that, because it keeps longing for the freedom of the denouement, reaching the shore and leaving the pain behind.
This therapy that lasts less than half an hour, even though it is built on ancient and poetic catalan mysticism, does not spare on criticism. It knows how to identify evil in our current society in “Doctrines” (“Llueix-te, colonitza’t / Són els càntics del nou món) and does not ignore feminicides in “El mite de la fal·làcia”. The thing is Enze’s dejection is not completely decadent. They know how to perfectly identify the cruelty surrounding them, and use it as a weapon to fight or to learn to live, as with death.
Raimon Costa (Guitar), Adrià Cabrerizo (guitar), Ferran Quintana (drums), Jordi Clapera (Bass) and Marc Fernandez (Vocals) are still young but keep working so when the moment comes, they will be ready. Banging your head against the wall can be useful, and this time Enze has come up with a record that will stir up hearts and graves.
1. ROMANÇA A LES BÈSTIES.
This is the preface to the story that the album wants to narrate, where all the tracks are connected to each other sharing the same main character, a man tired of living, and his tireless antagonist, death.
In this introductory topic, our protagonist rises again at night after suffering another nightmare. Above the window, he finds an owl that remains completely still after the man’s repeated attempts to kick her out of his room. As he approaches her, he discovers that she is the death in disguise, and she has come to make him rest.
“Entra un ésser a la meva llar,
el vull fer fora però torna a entrar.
És un duc de cabell blanc,
vestit amb mortalla, de cor franc.Digues què has vingut a cercar.
És hora ja de pagar pels pecats.
Moriré, podré per fi descansar.
M’encongiré davant aquests lilars.Entra un ésser a la meva llar,
el vull fer fora, però torna a entrar.”” A being enters my home,
I want to get him out, but he comes in again.
He is a snowy owl,
dressed in a burial shroud, with a pure heart.Tell us what you came for.
It is time to pay for sins.
I will die, I can finally rest.
I will shrink in front of these lilacs.A being enters my home,
I want to get him out, but he comes in again. “
2. MORTALLA
The events take place in the same room. The man, after understanding the real purpose of the visit, decides to make a quick review of his life and remember his loved ones. But in tears, he begins to wonder if he should accept the shroud that the guest offers him.
“Que perquè entenguéssiu
tot aquest dolor
tot el que sentia
Vaig haver d’assumir
que la ràbia se’m menja
i desperto i no miro enrere
Que la ràbia m’ofega
però ho encaro.
Ho encaro amb ulls de sordera.
I ho sento per tu.
Tu, mama, que m’has donat tant,
de veritat que ho sento,
jo també vull que acabi ja.
I perdo aquesta batalla.
Se’m menja. Hi penso,
amb la mortalla.
I perdo aquesta batalla.
M’ofego.
Per fi em vesteixo amb la mortalla.
És la meva ensenya.
És el meu camí.
És a la meva lluita.
On hi ha el risc de patir.
Per l’avorriment.
El no saber on anar.
El que em malbarata,
m’instiga a bramar.
Què he de fer?”“In order to understand
all this pain
all that I felt
I had to assume
that rage eats me
and I wake up and I do not look back
That rage drowns me
but I face it.
I face it with deaf eyes.
And I’m sorry for you.
You, mama, you have given me so much,
I’m really sorry,
I also want it to end.
And I lose that battle.
It eats me. I think about it,
with the shroud.
And I lose that battle.
I drown.
At last I dress in the shroud.
It is my banner.
It is my way.
It is my fight.
Where the risk of suffering is.
Out of boredom.
Not knowing where to go.
The one who wastes me,
urges me to cry.
What should I do?”
3. DOCTRINES
Without a doubt the most political subject. The protagonist reflects on the agony he lives trying to fit into a society immersed in clichés and stereotypes, where the only way to achieve this is to leave behind all your ideals. Talks about losing your soul, getting up every day and not recognizing yourself in the mirror, about living a life steeped in mass culture.
Our intoned companion convinces himself to break with the guidelines and dogmas that have been entrusted to him and that, finally, have delivered him to death.
“Trenca ja aquest mirall,
reflex deforme del teu passat.
Trenca ja tots els lligams,
que t’encadenen.
Voldria perdre’m per oblidar.
Per retrobar-me en el present.
Voldria perdre’m per canviar
tots aquells rius de sang,
tots aquells cants.
Ja no pots veure, doncs,
L’essència en els errors.
Com vols que l’ànima
no es perdi entre els matolls.
Vèncer, enganya’t,
Destaca, menysprea’t.
Podreix-te i crucifica’t,
per sobreviure.
“Llueix-te”
“Colonitza”
Són els càntics del nou món.
Ja cau. Ja s’ensorra.
Ja cau. Ja s’ensorra.
Tanca les negres portes.
Canta, canta i rebel·la’t.
Tindràs molt temps per lluitar.
Tindràs molt temps per canviar.
El que has après és trencar.
Aquest mirall del passat.
Voldria perdre’m per canviar
tots aquells rius de sang,
tots aquells cants.
Trenca ja aquest mirall,
reflex deforme del teu passat.
Tanca-ho.”“Break this mirror,
A distorted reflection of your past.
Break all the ties already,
that chain you.
I’d like to lose myself to forget
Rediscovering me in the present.
I would lose myself to change
all those rivers of blood,
all those songs.
You can no longer see the
essence of mistakes.
How should the soul
Not get lost in the bushes?
To beat, to deceive,
to emphasize, to despise.
Rot and crucify yourself,
To survive.
“Shine”
“Colonize”
They are the chants of the new world.
It’s already falling. Already collapsing.
It’s already falling. Already collapsing.
Close the black doors.
Sing, sing and rebel.
You will have plenty of time to fight.
You will have plenty of time to change.
What you have learned is to break
this mirror of the past.
I would lose myself to change
all those rivers of blood,
all those songs.
Break this mirror,
A distorted reflection of your past.
Close it”
4. – EL MITE DE LA FAL·LÀCIA
I is about the man who’s scared, due to his lack of faith. Connotations of a religious nature can be identified in the lyrics, but it is only a metaphor for a world where we are continually exposed to persuasive inputs, of little validity and reliability. “El mite de la fal·làcia” is a criticism of the media, social networks and / or religion, as means of population control. He speaks about the subtlety of the fallacies that we find in these means of control, which reach our ears and persuade us like the irrepressible song of an undine.
“M’enlluerna la claror.
Dins la caverna
hi ha un mur de pedres
construït per enzes.
Digue’ns tu, deseixit,
com ho hem de fer?
Per seguir.
Per saber.
Aprendre a ser lliures.
Persuadir la seva ment
sense preocupar-se.
Perseguir.
Per saber.
Trencar les cadenes
que ens tenen aquí fermats.
Sentiu el trist cant d’una ondina?
Doncs li han prohibit cantar.
Ja no es pot expressar.
I, on és aquest déu tant preocupat?
Massa pregàries, masses mortes a l’atzar.
Un altre heretge; sal i flagell.
Flors i violència, no hi ha esperança.
Flors i violes, i una fal·làcia.
I un déu despreocupat
observa i pensa en la desgràcia,
en que no hi ha humanitat.
Qui s’apodera d’aquests pensaments?
Digue’ns tu, deseixit,
com ho hem de fer?
Per seguir.
Per saber.
Persuadir la seva ment.”“The light dazzles me.
Inside the cavern
There is a stone wall
built by enzes.
Tell us, detached,
how should we do it?
To keep going.
To know.
Learn to be free.
Persuade your mind
without worrying.
Run after.
To know.
Break the chains
that keep us here.
Do you hear the sad song of an undine?She has been banned from singing.
She can no longer express herself.
And where is this worried god?
Too many prayers, too many random deaths.
Another heretic; salt and scourge.
Flowers and violence, there is no hope.
Flowers and violas, and a fallacy.
And a carefree god
watches and thinks of misfortune,
that there is no humanity.
Who seizes these thoughts?
Tell us, detached,
how should we do it?
To keep going.
To know.
Persuade your mind.”
5. EL MEU CENOTAFI
“El meu cenotafi” is an ode to the memory of those who have not left. In this case, the helmsman of our history asks himself what phrase would be able to summarize a whole life and how it will be remembered.
This track is accompanied by a video clip released in February 2020, where a man is seen digging his own grave while he is tormented by the doubt of what his epitaph will be.
“Al meu cenotafi
no hi ha cos, resta al més enllà.
No hi ha epitafi.
Què importa? Ara ja tot és en va.
Sí, s’acosta el final.
No, no ho podré canviar.
Ja no et podré cantar
si em sento banal.
Mor, mor la ràbia.
Dintre és buit.
Al ventre cohibit.”“In my cenotaph
there is no body, it remains in the afterlife.
There is no epitaph.
What does it matter? Everything is in vain now.
Yes, the end is near.
No, I can’t change it.
I can no longer sing to you
if I feel banal.
Anger dies.
Inside it is empty.
In the restrained belly “
6. TRISTA ESPERANÇA
Outcome. The character decides to surrender to the snow owl.
Tired of being invisible to the eyes of the world, he decides to take his own life to leave solitude behind. And as he ties her neck, he hears the footsteps of death approaching to untie her ankles.
This song was the first we wrote for the album, and clearly more typical characteristics of the previous Enze stage can be identified, like punk rocker riffs and accelerated bpm.
“Quan desperti d’aquest somni
on no em calgui més patir,
quan abandoni aquest camí
que no portava enlloc, enlloc!
Cansat de ser invisible
als ulls del món,
no m’acostumo a entendre
què hi faig aquí tan sol
Si tot això s’acaba
perquè no hi ha res que em mou,
penso enfonsar-me.
Ja noto l’aigua al coll.
Encaro el destí imminent.
Es respira trista esperança.
Estenc la mà,
no arribo a la corda.
Cauré en un son profund,
no noto els peus a terra,
el fred m’abraça.
Cansat de les penombres,
sense la llum del sol.
Lligat sempre dels turmells,
ara m’escanya el coll.
Cavant la meva tomba
al fons del teu cor,
ja no et guardo,
no et guardo cap rancor.
Mor, mor la trista esperança.
Mor, mor la trista esperança.
Fort, com el cor que batega,
són cadascun dels seus passos,
és la mort que s’acosta,
és la llum que s’apaga.
Mort”” When I wake up from this dream
where I don’t have to suffer anymore,
when I leave this path
that led nowhere!
Tired of being invisible
to the eyes of the world,
I do not usually understand
what I’m doing here alone
If all of this ends
because there is nothing that moves me,
I plan to sink.
I can already feel the water on my neck.
I face the impending destiny.
It breathes sad hope.
I extend my hand,
I do not reach the rope.
I will fall into a deep sleep,
I do not feel my feet on the ground,
the cold embraces me.
Tired of the gloom,
without the sunlight.
Always tied by my ankles,
now is strangling my neck.
Digging my grave
to the bottom of your heart,
I no longer keep you,
I do not hold a grudge.
Dies, dies the sad hope.
Dies, dies the sad hope.
Strong, like a beating heart,
are each of its steps,
it is the approaching death,
it is the light that goes out.
Death”
