It's not often an advert in a magazine is the first introduction to a band and it's even more rare that something like that actually catches your interest as much you just have to check the band out immediately. That happened for me with ENEMY OF THE SUN. The cover of "Shadows" was quite striking, stood out from the dungeons & dragons, knights in the night and all of that, (not that there's anything wrong with any of it, it's just a little more common than covers that really stand out of the mass). I did check them out! Waldemar Sorychta...

This can be interesting! GRIP INC was highly underrated I think and Waldemar is an amazing guitar player."Shadows" didn't sound at all what I had in mind, the insane rhythms really appealed to me and it sure as hell didn't sound like anything else I've ever heard. "Caedium" continues in the same vein, Waldemar's obstinate riffings can be recognized but the edges have been polished. Not that it's anything negative about that, it's not fixed the way a lot of other bands do it today. The music is still very much alive and to me this record is a step up from "Shadows". The freakiness is still there but the songs are a little more dynamic.

Jules Nävery's register has broadened in all of his styles. Perhaps the most extreme Death grunts have been cut out, the growls are still there though and that he did great on the last album too. The midrange harsh vocals sound more secure and the variation in the melodies is a lot greater on this record, which goes for the clean vocals too. Everything is beautifully arranged, perhaps it's a little of an anticlimax before the records starts, the intro "Lithium" is a little too long for my taste. A really suggestive piece though that builds the expectations of what's coming next and the ride starts with "Another End Of The Rainbow", a really brutal tune that perhaps not is really significant for the album. Ok, the extremely fast and quite surreal sounding drums fit perfectly in with the rest but apart from that the track is quite plain.

The thing I really like about ENEMY OF THE SUN is the variety in the songs, that they mix extreme brutality with acoustic, half funky parts, growls with clean vocals and actually make it sound like it all belongs together. Best songs on the record are "Ticket" which is a fast one and really defines all this band is about. It's fast, brutal melodic, technical, melancholic and energetic at the same time. Then last song of the album (excluding the instrumental closer "In Memoriam") Aimless is another favorite which for the major part shows a different side of the band, here it's very clear how much they've grown since last album. This could never have been pulled off without a solid rhythm section so Alla Fedynitch - bass and Daniel Zeeman - drums really deserves to be mentioned also, their grinding foundation adds the steadiness to the music, and without them this would just have been freaky in the bad way.

ENEMY OF THE SUN have been called Cyber Metal but I don't know, that doesn't feel completely right but I can't come up with something better either. Cyber says easy come easy go to me but this is absolutely solid. "Caedium" is a really cool album but it requires time to get into and in the end you either love it or hate it. What can I say? I love it!