Enforcer

About Enforcer

Sweden's Enforcer offer a meld of heavy, speed, and glam metal. As other bands sought the new, they embraced tradition without irony. Their 2008 debut long-player Into the Night won critical acclaim for its approach and songwriting. 2010's Diamonds careened across hooky speed metal and glam boogie, while 2013's Death by Fire doubled down on the hooks. 2015's hair metal-influenced From Beyond also spawned a live album at year's end. Following two cross-continental tours, Enforcer returned with 2019's uncharacteristically polished, progressive Zenith. In 2023, Nostalgia appeared. The band was founded by guitarist and vocalist Olof "The Enforcer" Wikstrand; initially solo, he recorded Enforcer's earliest demos. Deciding to take the project live, he recruited bandmembers Jakob Ljungberg on drums, Jonas Wikstrand on bass, and Adam Zaars on guitar. This lineup re-recorded two previously issued demos. Joseph Tholl was recruited to play bass and Jonas assumed the drum chair. After hearing a 2005 demo and catching them live on the festival circuit, Heavy Artillery signed Enforcer and released their 2008 debut Into the Night, which offered listeners lightning-fast twin riffs, clean, high-pitched vocals, rumbling melodic basslines, and high-energy drums. Their approach compared favorably with New Wave of British Heavy Metal Bands like Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Rage, Exciter, and early Iron Maiden, and with their catchy hooks and extreme attack, they found a place of their own inside that vintage sound, and ultimately at the spearhead of the short-lived "New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal" scene (and they're among its only survivors). Following a European tour, Enforcer later signed to Earache; the label released their sophomore album, Diamonds, in 2010 and purchased the distribution rights to Into the Night. The lineup shift included new bassist Tobias Lindkvist, the only member who didn't write songs for the Rikard Löfgren-produced set. It registered with metal fans globally for its glam rock attitude, intensely catchy songwriting hooks, and knotty speed metal riffs. The following year saw Enforcer ink a deal with Nuclear Blast. which issued their third album, Death by Fire, in 2013. Co-produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Olof and Jonas Wikstrand, the set drew massive critical and listener acclaim for its refusal to innovate on tradition. They also won notice for their excellent production, strong, carefully crafted songs, infectious hooks, and distinctive lead and harmony vocals. Undertaking intense global touring over the next year and a half, Enforcer surprised fans when they issued From Beyond in February 2015. With sessions once more helmed by the Wikstrands and writing from the entire band, From Beyond was celebrated for its driving aggression, overdriven guitar sound, and crisscrossing speed, thrash, hair, and glam metal in a sophisticated collection of songs. The album proved so popular in Europe and North America, Enforcer and Nuclear Blast teamed up to release the live offering Live by Fire as an audio album and concert DVD/Blu-Ray. After a three-year writing retreat with few live dates to interrupt them, the band re-entered the studio and emerged with the controversial Zenith in April 2019. It marked their first album to feature new guitarist Jonathan Nordwall, who replaced Tholl. The finished effort was regarded by some critics as their most ambitious to date, while others thought it sounded far too polished and "progressive." While they did sonically channel elements from influences including Queensrÿche, Blind Guardian, ABBA, and Europe, they stitched them into a songwriting, arrangement, and production aesthetic solely their own. Further, the set's single was a translated cover version of Terminal's majestic glam anthem "Zadnji Izlet" retitled "Regrets." With the Wikstrands mixing and producing, Löfgren recorded the vocals and Lucifer guitarist Linus Björklund engineered. Howie Weinberg's mastering offered a more multi-dimensional, compressed sound. Interestingly, while the set received mixed reviews in Europe, it was met with acclaim in North and South America, resulting in sold-out venues on tour. The band also went a step further and released a Spanish-language version. The following month, they issued the four-song 1000 Years of Darkness EP; it included a stellar '70s-era cover of Bosnia/Herzegovina-based hard rock band Divlje Jagode's "To Another World." While Enforcer sat out the COVID-19 pandemic, Nuclear Blast issued Live by Fire II in March 2021. Two studio singles, "Kiss of Death" and "At the End of the Rainbow" had appeared by year's end. Enforcer spent almost all of 2022 rehearsing, playing live, and recording. In January 2023 they released a re-recorded version of Diamonds' "Running in Menace," and followed it with "Coming Alive" -- featuring new bassist Garth Condit -- in February. In May, Enforcer released the full-length Nostalgia, which was produced by Rikard Löfgren, who'd helmed the sessions for Diamonds in 2010. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi