Enyor Catalunya En Blanc I Negre

Released
12th December 2024
Label 
Mendeku Diskak
Format

12 Inch

Black

£18.00

‘I malgrat tot encara queda esperança, Que els fets ofeguin les paraules, Bufa fort el vent que empenta a aquells qui avancen, Trepitgen fort les seves passes’ (Abraça’m Fins Que Cremi La Generalitat) ‘And despite everything there is still hope, That the deeds drown out the words, The wind blows hard that pushes those who advance, They tread hard on their steps’ (Hug Me Until The Generalitat Burns)

Enyor is Catalan for longing and serves as the perfect embodiment of the spirit that fires the band’s debut album, Catalunya En Blanc I Negre (Catalonia In Black And White). The warmly hazy guitar tones elicit thoughts of bleakly melodic early 1990s’ UK punk, which are blended with burlier UK82 rhythms, and stirring, emotionally charged choruses.

The hoarse vocals explore themes of memory, nurturing Catalan cultural identity, and the cross-section of both with the region’s deep-seated anarchist traditions.  The result is a vividly evoked sense of place and our interaction with the natural landscape.

From the fiercely rousing Ferides (Wounds) and Apreta Els Punys (Clench Your Fists) to the more reflective Tinc Una Bèstia Dintre Meu (I Have A Beast Inside Me) and (A) Ultrança (To The End) , it is an album that smoulders with fury and swells with cathartic reverie in equal measure.  The album also includes a reimagined Catalan language cover of Negative Approach’s Preparats Per Lluitar (Ready To Fight).

But this is no exercise in nostalgia or wallowing in defeated melancholy.  Rather, an exploration of how demands from the both the past and the sought-after future can be harnessed to pursue change in the present and ensure that we do not settle into a resigned acceptance of the status quo.

—Foundation Vinyl