There are multiple things worth noting about the "Enter the Arena" album from thrash metal band WARBEAST. I am fascinated that I happened to be called to, so early in my time here reviewing for Metal Temple and against all odds of this occurring so quickly, review a band's final album, extremely shortly after they broke up. It is also worth noting that Phil Anselmo of PANTERA fame was a producer on this record, but perhaps that may not come as a giant surprise because the band does hail from Texas; Phil Anselmo is pretty known for participating in a huge number of projects, as well. The core reason for why this is the case is that the band was signed to his label: Housecore Records.

Right out of the gate from the start of the record I have to touch on the sound of the record from an audio engineering perspective before I dive into describing the music. This thing sounds tasty. The guitar tone is sick as hell and perfectly suited for the riffing styles with how slimy it is. The drums sound very natural in all their components and un-quanitized: the performance is left raw and the human element isn't stripped away whatsoever. The bass is booming and hellish, and all the different components at play here come together in an absolute freight train of heavy metal. I have one complaint, however, and it is that the vocals are a fair bit too far back in the mix.

The songs on this thing are decently hefty in terms of track length, with the opener "Centuries of Poisoned Soil" clocking at about seven minutes. You might expect more of a sound that leans on the melodic side with a song this long, which these guys don't convey so much at all. It's more about pure darkness and aggression, tonally with the riffs. In terms of song structure, this opener isn't very dynamic in terms of having many moments where the riffs drop in intensity, at least not in volume. The song also doesn't drag at all and remains enjoyable through its runtime. This album provides more dynamics in the tempos and playing techniques within each song, and most of the songs do this to create a very consistent record. You get skank beats, chunky riffs with hammer-on/pull-offs and other common playing techniques for the genre, modulating guitar solos, gruff vocals from Bruce of RIGOR MORTIS and more on display here. All the different things that go on in each song serve well to keep the listener electrified and engaged by continually throwing different heavy stuff in your face.

The music on here isn't as thrashy as some new wave thrash. It's a bit more in the crossover vein, mixing in elements you would hear in death metal, grind and hardcore. And despite Anselmo's involvement it's not often on this album that you hear anything that could be described as ripping on PANTERA too much or at all. As I mentioned before, the songs are more dynamic in terms of tempo as much of death and thrash metal is, and the sound of the songs on here don't deviate much from each other. Thusly, diving into each track would be a pointless exercise. It must be said that this consistency works in the favor of "Enter the Arena," and diversity in songs is a positive, but not always necessary, trait. An album I can bring up as a relevant example here would be SEPULTURA with "Beneath the Remains." Most of the songs there achieve the exact same vibe, but at least in my mind, it's the best thrash album ever. This album on the other hand, is full of songs that could be described as "pretty good" blending together, as opposed to mind-screwingly powerful ones.

There are definitely still sections that stand out on this record. The intro to "Chemicals Consuming" is really different to most of the rest of the album which got me more excited while listening than I already was. It's trudging and dissonant as if it's conveying a drug trip through metal, and reading the lyrics reveals that could actually be one interpretation. Not much else of note happened after the intro, so this song dragged for me a bit more than the others. I must also admit that the title track didn't do too much for me and broke up the flow of the album a bit, with its suffocating guitar noise happening over "start-stop" licks. Definitely the weakest cut on here. The second half of "Conjuration with the Devil" throws us a very standout transition where very harmonious intervals move upwards in a very jarring non-scalar fashion similar to what you might hear in a film score, flowing directly into an almost IMMOLATION inspired creepy lead atmosphere over crushing and chugging riffs.

In other various points on the record we hear consecutive chromatic pinch harmonics similar to how IHSAHN of EMPEROR fame has tended to play them. If the album had utilized more moments like these it would have been much more memorable after the music ends as well as being engaging while it plays. While the final outing of WARBEAST is part of a sea of albums in this style, the music is, again, still enjoyable while you're listening to it. That's almost all that matters anyway. Not a bad note to go out on, yet there was some potential here that was underutilized. Kind of a shame we won't get to hear more progression from these guys.