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Alove For Enemies

The Harvest (2005)
Facedown Records

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Contributed by: Anchors
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on August 12th 2005

There are a few musical trends that have been overly prevalent in the last few years that are thankfully starting to run their course. Boy bands all but have their casket closed, nü-metal and rap rock have two feet firmly planted in their burial plot, and bands whosmushtheirbandname like that are inching ever closer to the graveyard. Alove For Enemies, however, are attempting to squeak past the shelf life on the trend by releasing The Harvest by way of Facedown Records.

Straight metallic hardcore is what you’ll find on this disc, with lead singer Erich Barto sounding remarkably like ex-Skycamefalling singer Chris Tzompanakis with his mid-range screamed vocals. Barto’s strong voice carries above the chunky guitars and thick drum fills, and things never really get too hectic for the band to keep in tune with each other. The only breaks in vocals come for a spoken word part here and there, token as that does sound this day and age. However, it’s with Barto that a lot of the potential problems that could be had with this disc comes out. I don’t want to say the lyrics are overtly Christian, but it’s damn sure noticeable.

This is my truth, this is our victory / The blood will flow down from the sky, angels reaping all of you, faithful or not / The moon will turn to fire, the sky to ash, sickles reaping all of us, faithful or not / And we will wait here, swords drawn, ready to fight for you / It’s time to rise and fight for life, it’s time to rise and fight for Christ.

The combination of apocalyptic imagery and religious overtones are probably sure to turn some people off to the music. The rest of the lyrics, where there’s no religious context, read much like Throwdown’s liner notes, with various testaments to fighting, unifying, and similar themes. Metallic hardcore sound aside, this is where Alove For Enemies deviates in style from a band like Skycamefalling, who had a very intelligent, poetic way about their lyrics. So if you’re able to steer clear of an opinion on the band's religious affiliation, the punishing vocals could very well be right up your alley.

For better or worse, the lyrics very well might be the only noteworthy item in the album, as instrumentally this is very standard fare. Thick, chugging guitars with some melodic undertones and sporadic breakdowns to change things up a bit, tempo-wise. For what’s here, it’s at least executed well, although through the eleven songs I can’t tell you that any one sticks out above the next. If metallic hardcore is your thing, you probably have ten dollars and a space on your shelf for this album.

Everyone else can start hoping this is the next trend to meet its death.

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Anonymous (February 27, 2006)

this band is fucking horrible. if they wanted to preach so bad, they should have all become priests.

p.s. someone should tell these guys that premarital sex is bad

Anonymous (August 16, 2005)

I'm so relieved and happy to know that BSD is 17.

It makes me jump in my soul.

Anonymous (August 15, 2005)

"And to the GUYS below...yall are fucking gay"

Looks like Tex isn't afraid of the interweb no mo'.

stevejonestherealbones (August 15, 2005)

"And to the GUYS below...yall are fucking gay"

well...YALL is definately the gayest of the gay.

Yall is the gayest poster since gay came to gay town

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

- master shake

Anonymous (August 15, 2005)

"I wish people would try a little harder on punknews sometimes. That is fucking pathetic."

Haha agreed.

And to the GUYS below...yall are fucking gay

Anonymous (August 14, 2005)

To the guy below... don't be such a wack MC.

Anonymous (August 14, 2005)

thirtysec, different strokes for different folks.

to the guy below...dont front

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (August 14, 2005)

"help. i am not a funny person at all, but i so desperately want to be. instead of actually writing things that are humorous, i will just write a bunch of crap that makes no sense and call it "absurdism" and pretend it is both creative and funny. but its not."

Finally, Jones admits what we've always suspected.

stevejonestherealbones (August 14, 2005)

"If you read Slippy's posts backwards they say "help, my appreciation for absurdism is a fish.""

if you just read this post. regular style. it basically says, "help. i am not a funny person at all, but i so desperately want to be. instead of actually writing things that are humorous, i will just write a bunch of crap that makes no sense and call it "absurdism" and pretend it is both creative and funny. but its not."

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (August 14, 2005)

If you read Slippy's posts backwards they say "help, my appreciation for absurdism is a fish."

slippy (August 13, 2005)

"If you read Slippy's posts backwards they say "help, I'm trapped in a Chinese fortune cookie factory."

That doesn't even make sense.

Anonymous (August 13, 2005)

Wow. Thanks Alove. Now I understand your message. I'm gonna go buy a big fucking sword, put on the manowar and start killing heretics. I am here Alove and I will fight for you. If you like metal, you're my friend.

-Ken, your brother in metal

Anonymous (August 13, 2005)

Most of the time I hate my enemies.

There are a few I invite to house parties and shit...exchange x-mas gifts..you know, were good like that.

fuck.

---Travis.

stevejonestherealbones (August 12, 2005)

seriously though. alove?

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (August 12, 2005)

If you read Slippy's posts backwards they say "help, I'm trapped in a Chinese fortune cookie factory."

slippy (August 12, 2005)

"If you read BSD's posts backward they say "emo is great, I like Dashboard Confessional."

I wish people would try a little harder on punknews sometimes. That is fucking pathetic.

Anonymous (August 12, 2005)

If you read BSD's posts backward they say "emo is great, I like Dashboard Confessional."

Anonymous (August 12, 2005)

WOOT! Way to go Facedown! Glad to know that in this age of rampant polytheism, where one can't walk down the street without falling prey to some some jewish/islamic/pagan ritual, that you have the bravery to release music by these brave Christian warriors! And the music? I'm stunned with the originality and thought that went into copying early 90's crapmetal... Mindblowing, to say the least... The apocalyptic overtones are a firm reminder who of who's going to be taken to heaven above, and who's going to be, well... "Left Below".

Yeah! RISE UP AND SMITE THE FILTHY WHORES! Yeah!!

-BSD

PS- Don't forget, kids: We're all sinners in the eyes of god, so don't worry so much about leading moral or ethical lives on Earth! Do what you can to fuck over everyone else, just make sure you pray for one minute out of the week!

PPS- St. Paul iz teh xMETALx