aaamusic | On 21, Nov 2010

Adopting the typical screamo/hardcore formula of yelling interspersed with clean vocals (see Underoath/The Devil Wears Prada/Sky Eats Airplane/etc), Shropshire’s Enora is pretty standard stuff. Although The Wolves improves upon repeated listening, it’s too fragmented to really work as a whole (pauses go on too long, the pace changes too erratically, and there’s a random foray into dubstep in there that just doesn’t fit).

It isn’t unusual for hardcore bands to slow it down for the token ‘emotional track’ –  in this case, titular Anchor plays that role. Sounding like a cross between aforementioned Underoath’s Some Will Seek Forgiveness and one of Funeral for a Friend’s acoustic attempts, Anchor is neither particularly bad or particularly special; it does exactly what its supposed to do, no more, no less.

Anchor isn’t a bad release – it’ll appeal to existing fans of hardcore, but won’t be winning around new listeners anytime soon.

Author: Katharine Sparks