Entheos – Empty on the Inside
Release Date: 23rd October 2026
Label: Metal Blade Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Metalcore, Alternative Metal.
FFO: Fallujah, Psycroptic, Gorod, Employed to Serve, Vexed.
Review By: Jeff Finch
It’s rare that social media can prove to be immensely helpful to one seeking out positivity, and even more rare for one to simply stumble upon it, but that’s where I lie with today’s focus, Entheos. Having heard the name but never the output, a reel of Chaney Crabb on Facebook changed all of that: the sheer power in her vocals and the level of intense focus, while also sounding incredibly good, was enough to send me their way, confirming what was already inferred: the rest of the band is equally excellent.
On this new one, Empty on the Inside, there is a lot of sonic variety without abandoning who they are. That is to say, these changeups serve to enhance the sound of the band, not yield a product whose sound has fans questioning their future. Vocalist Chaney Crabb unleashes some hellaciously low growls, the bass ping(s), the riffs transition between head-bobbing groove and lightning-quick tremolos, all while the drumming runs the gamut of double bass, technical fills, blast beats, and restraint where it’s asked. Opening track Hell Is a Part of Me actually opens somewhat innocuously, feedback coupled with an opening lick that somehow combines to sound like the start to a U2 song (don’t crucify me) belying the chaos about to reign over us all. Drums shift into high gear, guitars turn into buzz saws, frantic yet tight, and Chaney unleashes a hell howl that would make Lucifer proud, initially in her lower register with a lightning quick transition to some piercing black metal shrieks.
It’s moments like these that make later moments, where clean singing takes center stage, all the more impressive. It’s an utterly bonkers range of harsh vocals mixed with cleans that are so well done, it’s easy to forget just how ludicrous those screams are. No song demonstrates this better than Never Let Me Go, a series of moments where Chaney’s haunting performance is accompanied by just a piano and acoustic guitar. It may not be a standard Entheos song, but any listener paying attention will recognize just how impressive this performance is and won’t balk at it just because it doesn’t rip faces off. Those moments are saved for tracks where we get a taste of the cleans but get bludgeoned shortly thereafter, like Golden Crown, whose opening wouldn’t be out of place on an Evanescence album but whose follow-up goes full Djent, a throaty shout segueing into a vitriolic scream while the downtuned riffs and ping bass take center stage.
Album closer The Earth Will Move proves to be a full showcase of what the band is capable of, the first segment a walk through the park, clean vocals and technical but subdued music accompaniment. It lulls one into a sense of calm before ripping their throat out, Chaney morphing into her other vocal persona, the music rife with heft but whose pace brings forth a bit of trepidation. We don’t know what iteration is coming up next, but we do know it’s gonna rock hard; here the band decide to calm down a tad and revert to their earlier pace. The band saved the heaviest for last, with tremolo riffs, blast beats, growls and shrieks to provide one final mosh pit moment before the album’s conclusion.
While Entheos doesn’t reinvent the wheel, or even try to, what they put to record in this release is an excellent, hearty slab of progressive death metal with many a head-banging moment while also doling out plenty of melody and enough variety in ten tracks that one would have to try very hard to not be entertained.
(4 / 5)
