From the beginning of “The Beginning of the End”, Sworn Enemy come forth with a brutal sound that only is tangentially related to hardcore through the very forward type of vocals. In fact, Sworn Enemy seem much more influenced by metal than anything that resembles hardcore; everything on “Forgotten” seems a better fit for early eighties metal, especially when the guitar comes through over the double-bass drumming that previously had dominance on the track.

The whole of “The Beginning of the End” is metal that individuals will chew on and be thrown into the pit by their own rebellious bodies. This means that the arrangements present on tracks like “Scared of the Unknown” hit something more than the heads of listeners; they really introduce themselves to the heart and pull at these smitten muscles for the entire disc. What Sworn Enemy really does during tracks on “The Beginning of the End” to really capture these hearts is come up with something that relies on repetition but does not suffer through it; this inculcates the rhythms of the bands into all listening but the band is careful to come up with minor changes to their general sound at all the right points. Even though later tracks continue the same fury and intricate interactions of earlier songs, Sworn Enemy does not coast through the entirety of “The Beginning of the End” without fault.

“Absorb the Lies” is a non starter in the context of the full disc; if it was taken as a single or separately from the rest of the tracks on the disc, the song would most likely succeed. However, when one listens to “Absorb the Lies” in the context of tracks like “All I Have” bookending it, the track seems a little lacking. The band comes out with an album that is great, but one can hear the degradation in sound in tracks like “Absorb the Lies”. Sworn Enemy comes out with something that is miles beyond what most bands could even conceive of, so when a track is closer to the level of other bands it really is obvious. For a blueprint of what metal should be, “The Beginning of the End” is something that every new band should take to heart. A nice production does not mean that the band has to sell their souls, and Sworn Enemy does not let anything really hinder them from speaking to each and every one of their listeners.

Top Tracks: All I Have, Scared of the Unknown

Rating: 6.3/10

[JMcQ]