Enforce – The Final Sign Review

What keeps a band from getting a record deal? It could be that they just aren’t that good. But it could also be that record labels just made a mistake in not signing a particular band. Or maybe the musical landscape at the time wouldn’t allow the band to be viable (in the “educated” minds of the record execs). Well, in the case of the band ENFORCE it was probably just the wrong time. The band was born in 1988 and, as we all know, by the early 90s metal wasn’t exactly in vogue.

Thanks to Divebomb Records and their bootcamp series (in their own words a series “unearthing lost sessions, unreleased albums and long forgotten demos by unsung heroes” of the metal genre) we get to hear The Final Sign by ENFORCE.

I wouldn’t consider this album a purely metal album, say in the vein of Judas Priest. Nor is it anything like AC/DC. What it is is a combination of hard rock, melodic rock, classic rock, and metal. So, if not Priest or AC/DC, then who do they sound like? Queensryche. Plain and simple. Musically for sure. Vocally, definitely. Lead singer Lonnie Fletcher sounds as close to Mr. Tate as you can get. Having said that, he isn’t quite on Geoff’s level. And the rest of the band (Nick Ellingson – – guitars, Cliff Saunders – drums, Jody Lewis – bass) don’t quite match their 80s era Queensryche counterparts. Nick Ellingson does have nice guitar solos throughout the album, though. Overall the songs do lack a certain dynamic feel, and aren’t overly interesting, but they are better than average. And, there are a couple songs that do stand out. If the rest of the songs were on the level of I Remember, Hold On, and A Time Of Change this album would be better.

When it comes right down to it The Final Sign is a good start. It would have been interesting to see how ENFORCE progressed had a record label signed them. I believe any fan of hard rock and metal would get some enjoyment out of this release. And any fan of Queensryche, which I am, should check the band out. As good as this release is, it is still only better than average, and because of that I am giving it a 6 out of 10.