Returning after just a couple of years with a well-enriched sophomore full-length album Austrian death/doom metal quartet ENDONOMOS infuse deeper strokes of melody and loft into their craft in pressing on toward an ‘epic’ effusion far more dynamically stated than their debut. A bolder showing of personage out the gates and an oeuvre developed through a set of largely distinctive songs ‘II: Enlightenment‘ is effectively the leap beyond generica, a breakthrough which stops short of reinvention as they find a path where tradition and more recent torment are tastefully willed into depth. For the melodic death/doom metal fandom seeking depressive yet charged work with muscular limbed movements nearby depressive and/or ethereal dissociative voice this’ll be a brilliant writhe through both ecstatic and tormented muse.

Endonomos formed circa 2021, essentially a solo doom metal project from Lukas Haidinger a fixture in both German and Austrian death, grindcore and groove/thrash metal scenery since the early 2000’s. This type of band, something like a marriage of epic doom metal, funeral doom and death metal is more-or-less the antithesis of what the fellowe has been known for especially if you’ve picked up on his work in bands like Distaste and Underground Groove Front over the last two decades as well as additional roles taken on in established bands such as Profanity and Theotoxin. That is to say that when the self-titled debut full-length (‘Endonomos‘, 2022) released it was just alright, a foundation of what a slowed fusion of death and doom metal might be under the artist’s application that could reasonably have been compared to Ophis or Mourning Beloveth sans any of the minor melodic leanings of those bands. It was far too straight forward to stand out but appropriately so, essentially the type of album you’d expect to see on Solitude Productions or similar imprint.

The best parts of Endonomos‘ debut translate directly into the expanded oeuvre found on ‘II: Enlightenment‘ where clean vocal tones from Haidinger take a more assertive role and the overall ratio leans toward an exaggerated form of doom metal, an ‘epic’ sensibility applied to what is now arguably dipping more readily into a melodic death/doom metal territory. This might appear as a finagling of sub-genre minutiae, the first album wasn’t any more (or less) death metal but here the implication is that the melodrama is cranked to a stirring degree, the presentation reaches for a far more vast depth, and overall you will “feel” this album exponentially more than the dry and droning vaunt of the previous chapter. Make no mistake this is still extreme doom written for patient minds with six ~7-8 minute songs hitting one after another but this time around the pacing is helped out to some severe degree by a variety of surreal and somewhat more emotive vocal performances which add weighty dramatism to each song starting with the almost early Pallbearer-esque ache which drives the rhythms of opener “Inversion”, where those nine minutes make it clear enough that this is a roaring and crooning melodic death/doom metal record aiming for the upper tier with a polished and booming production value.

If any song makes an argument for Endonomos making each piece an event, or pushing for distinction in most every case here it is “Atheon Anarkhon” a dissonant motif elongated into groaning verse riff sent to sprawl into soaring vocal mid-song, a sort of “death metal Candlemass” feeling stride which teems with a brutal intensity that’d immediately caught my ear. While this song may very well contain some of the heaviest riffs on the album it also features some of Haidinger‘s most expressive vocal layering per its easing, ethereal chorus and its extended rise into lingering harmony. If you’re sketching the actual structure of this song in mind it is an exaggeration of traditional doom metal forms not unlike (early) My Dying Bride in some sense but with richly set production values adding to the tension. While I’m afraid the most lethally boring buzzword for 2024 has become “dynamic” it really is the new standard for many forms of sub-genre music hoping to entertain fandom experiencing so many high-output bands and even with just Side A (incl. the intoxicating echoic drift of “Resolve”) under our belt here it really is the first major note to take that the production values, performances, and general songcraft here aims for a certain level of dynamically set soundscape (however blunt the low end can be) and this only helps the generally captivating tone as each song growls out in ‘epic’ fashion.

If you’ve experienced trepidation, or, a certain level of anxiety in approaching extreme doom metal albums which are particularly involved and patient in their trod you’ll find no curative here in the clutches of Endonomos. The only relieve available is a reasonable length of experience which thankfully doesn’t push into hourlong territory. It helps that they’ve found their knack for tension and tradition-stoked craft, a classic form of fusion which still calls for a certain level of attentive listening beyond its greater arcing moodiness. Nowhere did I find the grip on my skull tightening more than the claw-fingered grasp of “Entrapment” as it warmed slow and wormed through its ringing dread-bound riffcraft to start in wrathful waltz, pure taxation for the impatient yet a flattening rise for my own level of fandom for this style. At this point we’ll not likely find any new major additions to the band’s overall language, the clean vocals rise for effect and the growled vocals remain pulverizing in their directive yet most of Side B takes that same voice and applies a slow hammering down upon the coffin nails set up on the first half.

That said, we do find the guest spot from vocalist Daniel Droste of Ahab per the dejected tone of “Hostile” providing a huge moment for the album, not only for the collaboration but the way that this piece exemplifies, or, emphasizes the change felt between album number one and this intense follow-up. The gloom is a mile thick on this piece despite some of its awkward diction split between vocal styles yet this brief alien feeling, alongside some dual vocal exaggerations in the final third of the song, offers one of only a few moments which’re satisfyingly atypical on the full listen. That’d be one of my only real points of criticism here, that oftentimes the changes which shake things up serve as liminal nuance rather than act as the main feature of any given song making for a familiar, approachable sound full of emotive and surreal value but without an unheard-of angle or twist upon the ideal.

While a first impression is everything for many, and the artwork from ex-drummer/tattoo artist Armin Schweiger is evocative, there is some level of disconnect felt in the overall curation of this album. In terms of songcraft, tonal range, and the complete statement of ‘II: Enlightenment‘ all of the dots line up squarely as a complete and brilliantly focused doom metal record yet the lyrical themes and visuals feel slightly under-thought or at least leave room for tightening up into a most direct timeless statement. That said I’d felt like the passage from LP1 to LP2 here finds Endonomos bearing a full-fledged personae, rich yet understated melodic directives, and even a few bouts of pure death metal (see: “Kafir Qal’a”) to create a healthy enough balancing act on a record which truly doesn’t miss its mark with any of these songs. Even with plenty of room to grow in any desired direction there’ll be no doubting the impact of this album if you are a ‘ready indoctrinated death/doom metal fan. A high recommendation.

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