Album Review: Enchantya – Cerberus (Inverse Records)

Portuguese symphonic gothic metal band Enchantya is set to release their third studio album Cerberus on April 28th, 2023, via Inverse Records.

An ambitious epic from the symphonic metal band, Enchantya continue to impress in a genre where fresh and interesting bands fail to rise to the level dominated by a handful of legends. Enchantya have been working hard to crack the ceiling and with Cerberus, they’re really sending tremors through it.

An impressive cinematic intro called Karma leads to the first slab of bombastic energy in the form of All Down in Flames. Any doubts that Enchantya weren’t going to ‘bring it’ are completely blown away by the symphonic grandeur and thumping heavy metal energy. The lavish vocal styles and how they work in tandem with instruments, rather than dominate, is always great to hear.

With a brighter tone, ripping riff work, uber-gothic keys, and some vocal intensity, the sense of majesty is ever-present in the thrill ride that is Lunar Fire. Before Enchantya go for a combination of wildness and elaborate melodies with #Alone. The first half of the album then wrapped up with an impressive showcase of their symphonic power on the short Prana and a showcase of their dramatic detail on Rising Star. It’s all extremely good stuff.

There’s still half an album to go though and with Middle-Eastern melody, Existence gets the second half under way. A creative track that truly delivers on the sense of bombasticness that Enchantya are so good at. The drumming on this track, in particular, is immense.

A call to arms, United We Stand is a fiery riff-led number but the highs the vocals hit can’t be ignored. Whereas Anima is another intermission style track, albeit one with focus on the keys. Followed then by three of the most inventive, elaborate, powerful, and marathon-like tracks of all. The trio of Collective Souls, Sons of Chaos, and Inward offering varied ideas that ensure this is every bit the massive return for Enchantya that they wanted it to be.

They’re a special band and should be in the conversation about just who the next big symphonic metal bands are.

Enchantya – Cerberus Track Listing:

1. Karma
2. All Down in Flames
3. Lunar Fire
4. #Alone
5. Prana
6. Rising Star
7. Existence
8. United We Stand
9. Anima
10. Collective Souls
11. Sons of Chaos
12. Inward

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