Although I personally credit it with bringing heavy metal back into the spotlight after it had been severely wounded by first the invasion of grunge/alternative and then the so called nu metal, metal/hardcore, shortened to metalcore, came and had its best time between 2000 and 2006 (2005/2006 being the best 2 years of my life so far), then quietly disappeared from the said spotlight, interestingly, replaced by "regular" heavy metal in all its genres and hues. Currently, there seems to be not much new it can bring to the table for its role had been fulfilled long time ago. However, these Montréal, Quebec Canadians: James Arsenian (vocals, also for Exes For Eyes), Pepe Poliquin (guitars, also for BornBroken), Chris Arsenian (guitars, James’ brother), Ryan Miller (bass, also for Threat Signal) and Steve Harlall (drums), have been there from the start of the metalcore fame (about 2001) and, having announced their arrival with "The Promise" EP (2005), blasted 3 LPs: "Odds Against Tomorrow" (2006), "Black Cloud" (2011), "Thrive" (2014), before splitting up, almost each man to a different band.

Now, 5 years later, Endast returns with a single which they call just the beginning (thus the name of the single), the single born out of COVID-19 frustration and the uncertainty it brings. You can hear it in James’ voice as he screams "nobody ever promised us tomorrow" and you believe him. As for the music, despite some clear references to Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, Misery Signals and As I Lay Dying, as well as to James’ other band (Exes For Eyes), it sounds surprisingly hungry and fresh. There’s both a spirit of melodeath and classic thrash in it, the 4 and almost a half minute composition packing a lot of twists and turns, shall we say, almost with a progressive touch? The highlight is definitely the very emotional and uplifting chorus courtesy of James, sung very convincingly. You can not just tell but FEEL these guys live what they preach through music and lyrics.

I hope Endast will continue down this path and expands even more their horizons on the, hopefully soon, upcoming 4th full length. Meanwhile I strongly recommend this single for, I, for one, am standing by to get some more of where it came from.

https://facebook.com/EndastMusic