Embrace The Fear [Release date : 21.02.25]

2025’s Set it Free is Enbound’s third album, a follow up to Blackened, if an album 9 years later can be described as a “follow up”.

Nice (if expensive) piece of marketing here… the Blackened CD (Elevator Mixes) is also included in this new package.

A lot has changed since the band’s 2011 melodic rock debut, And She Says Gold. Primarily that vocalist Lars (Work Of Art) Safsund has gone. Only to be replaced by Tobias Jonsson of Arctic Rain, another melodic rock band.

Surprisingly then, Blackened signalled a radical change in style. The parallel might be Bloodbound’s or Dynazty’s transformation from melodic rock to melodic metal some years back.

Like them, Enbound saw the transition to metal as more of a new musical strand in the evolution of popular culture, rather than a revolution in attitudes. It was a simple, effective thought, but one that took them two albums to nail down.

Set It Free is the second.

The band is led by founder Mike Cameron Force (drums, keys), with “Swede” on bass, and “Andy” on guitars.

It would be a perverse notion to expect the music’s melodic content to have disappeared. Lyrically too, it is more illustrative in its themes and concepts… ‘Assaulted Taste’ and the ballad, ‘You Never Walk Alone’ are two.

The latter – an album standout – has an intense, quasi religious ring. The arrangement and the production are fabulously 3 dimensional, adding layer upon layer as the song rises to a majestic climax.

Hulking yet nimble metalised songs, like ‘Maximise’ and ‘The Foresight Bleeding In Your Heart’ keep the temperature high.

In ‘Invincible’, a pleasing balance of tenderness and punch, with all the immediacy of a great pop song, and ‘Set It Free’, the title track, a diamond in the dirt, we have two absolute beacons of light, on an album that illuminates the genre with songs that sparkle and shine.

Factor in variations in tempo, cutting edge subject matter and densely constructed arrangements, where yet you can hear every note, and you’ve got a genuinely exceptional album. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 24 March 2025

HARRI LARKIN Too Close To The Sun (Robot Distro)
SANDNESS Not Your Dog (Rockshots Records)
DOCTOR BLACK Drag Me Down (indie)
COHEED AND CAMBRIA Goodbye Sunshine (Virgin Music Group)
LEONI JANE KENNEDY Closer (indie)
SMALL TOWN POLITICS Red Lights (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 24 March 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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