Back in 2007, Enemy Of The Sun released Shadows, an album that turned out to be one of the year’s oddest, yet most intriguing. Now these Germans are set to release the multifaceted follow up, titled Caedium. I found Shadows to be much like its title’s definition: “a hint or faint, indistinct image or idea; intimation.” The album threw everything but the kitchen sink at you, leaving you curious as to what just happened. After three years and extensive touring, have the band finally zeroed in on their extremely ambitious sound?

Caedium opens with the dreary, brutal intro, “Lithium.” Guitarist Waldemar Sorychta (ex-Grip Inc., Despair) and drummer Daniel Zeman texture both classical influence along with berating high energy cyber-metal to a tee. This song leads perfectly into its follow up “Another End Of The Rainbow.” The track incorporates a few thrash elements, but leans much more on the Fear Factory side of things. Enemy Of The Sun’s style is one that’s really hard to nail down. As I stated earlier, you can definitely hear a heavy influence of Fear Factory, along with thrash kings like Kreator, Vader and The Haunted. But Enemy Of The Sun don’t stop there, also throwing in elements of bands like Puya, Resorte, and System Of A Down. Vocalist Jules Näveri (Profane Omen) has a solid heavy vocal that fuses Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and Derrick Green (Sepultura, Musica Diablo). The major drawback with him, though, is his singing. There are times where it’s passable, but believe me, it’s nothing to write home about.

Tracks like “I Am The One”, “Chasing The Dragon”, “The Power Of Mankind” and “Aimless” really show off the stranger, imaginative side of the band. “I Am The One” begins with Latin flavored guitars that eventually find twisted grooves and pounding drums. The song starts off with promise, but once the verses kick in, it quickly becomes apparent that being so eclectic might not be such a good thing. Näveri’s vocals are anything but good during these sections, eventually finding his niche during the heavier portions of the track. “Chasing The Dragon” opens again with Latin influences (bongos included) promptly turning into a chunky thrash-fest. The verses see Näveri take a stab at dark Alice In Chains melodies with deep rooted aggression. Even though the song is basically a thrasher at heart, the band throw in some really funky grooves near the end of the track for extra bounce. “The Power Of Mankind” is a song that has about as much flow as David Hasselhoff has talent. Yea, so basically NONE at all! The track’s sporadic System Of A Down style is mixed with strange Saigon Kick style vocal harmonies that are just plain weird. About three quarters through, the song really pounds you with Zeman and Sorychta’s brutal drumming/guitar combination. “Aimless” is total stinker right out of the chute. Sorychta might be an accomplished guitarist, but his axe work on this track (besides the Spanish acoustics) is pretty much annoying from note one. The music is slow, keeping zero momentum, while Näveri tries more singing when he really honestly shouldn’t.

If you’re looking for a much more conventional in-your-face style, then songs like “Ticket”, “Sky Shooting Stars” and “Stolen Sky” should fill that need. “Ticket” lets loose like another Fear Factory clone, just to melt into a Carlos Santana style breakdown, then immediately turns into a straight up thrasher. Vocally, Näveri mixes clean yelling with more run of the mill singing. If you could mix b-side Fear Factory riffs with newer Sepultura aggression, then you would basically have “Sky Shooting Stars” in a nutshell. Musically the song isn’t bad, but with the atrocious singing in the choruses, the song definitely takes a major hit. Just like the previous track, “Stolen Sky” borrows heavily from both bands. Näveri kills the clean vocals, opting for a more raw/aggressive approach and believe me, it works.

Simply put, Caedium is a middle of the road album with loads of good ideas that never really pan out. Is it better than Shadows? Absolutely! But can it stand up to albums by some of the band’s biggest influences? Not a chance. With so many ideas thrown on the “musical table”, there are times when the album comes off unorganized and lacking any true focus. While the combination of so many styles might look like a good idea on paper, plain and simple, it just isn’t. Caedium is a Latin word meaning “a self-inflicted death.” With such a mishmosh of ideas, Enemy Of The Sun might be fighting a losing battle, sadly, to find out they are just an enemy of themselves.

2.5/5