Sworn Enemy - Maniacal

Sworn Enemy is a New York based band with their roots in Hardcore. After the release of an EP and their first full length the band decided to put more thrash into their sound. With success, the second full length The Beginning Of The End was received unexpectedly well by their hardcore following, and opened up the potential for a broader audience. Towards the end of 2007 the band released their third full length entitled Maniacal.

Maniacal continues where The Beginning Of The End ended. The influence of thrash metal is even more present in the current sound of Sworn Enemy and the band even dare to compare their sound with Testament, Exodus, Anthrax and Megadeath (and yeah, it is spelled like that!). Co-Produced by Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying) and Joey Z (Life Of Agony) the band attracted the attention of some big names in the industry to record their album.

On Maniacal the band still maintained their aggressive style which was introduced on their previous effort. Opening track 'Ignorance' kicks in and the power keeps coming during the 10 tracks which gives the listener a little bit more than 33 minutes of pure terror. But the quality of this disc is by far the best the band has produced so far. When it comes to production, quality, arrangements and songwriting the band has explored their capabilities. This resulted in a masterpiece filled with 10 powerful songs which all got their own identity.

It is getting tougher each time you have to listen to a hardcore/thrash metal (=metalcore) record. Sometimes a band manage to grab you by the nuts and will not let you go until the last note on the record. Sworn Enemy managed to create one of these records, after their last album a great add on to the collection.