Well, the album title may be a bit naff but it’s that kind of ambitious, self-indulgent pretentiousness that such a title connotes that makes Enochian Theory’s latest album a compelling listen. As with their previous releases, Encohian Theory’s success lies in their confident approach to exploration and creation of music that gives little authority to the bounds of genre or style. Always multi-faceted and multi-layered, the song structures are of elaborate design and intricately intertwined lines whose nuances are as refined as each track is moving. An intelligent and emotive album, Enochian Theory, with their lush orchestration, a broad palette of synth sounds, and a curious fragility permeating the ornate compositions, have proved themselves, again, masters of finesse. With the tempos barely shifting into the high gears, Enochian Theory’s dynamic control comes to the fore with the intensity levels instead being utilised to convey the band’s musical and conceptual diversity.
That said, the Life… And All It Entails does become monotonous from time to time and so as the album proceeds, it begs for either a faster tempo to kick in with or an impassioned riff that would bring a bit of turmoil to the otherwise safely paced aesthetic. At times – and all too often – it feels as of the band are clinging to the safety barrier and unwilling to submit themselves completely to life and its utterly incomprehensible unpredictability and so there’s a certain complacency that pervades the album and renders it frustratingly lacking. Intelligent in design and accomplished in terms of musicianship, other than the heavy ‘For Your Glory, Great Deceiver’, this is too light to be as moving as is promised by the opening three tracks. But Enochian Theory’s ambition can’t be faulted and they’ve done an impressive job of attempting to render the many facets of this absurd existence against a sophisticated prog rock backdrop.
6.5/10
Jason Guest