These ain't no blue suede shoes

This here bunch of young men was one of a group of bands, mostly from the Southwestern U.S., whose sound was defined by various parts grind and metal with a healthy bit of a southern sludge influence. Enewetak, much like Unruh and Suicide Nation (about both of whom I’ll probably write more in the future), was fairly well known for a while, but didn’t achieve quite the lasting notoriety of other hardcore bands that were active in the mid to late nineties. However, Enewetak’s only CD full-length release, Onward to Valhalla, is still around and with a bit of patience you might also be able to find some of their EPs.

Now, I googled the hell out of these guys without really being able to come up with much in the way of solid information, so I’m mostly relying on record inserts. Those lead me to believe that Enewetak was around from ca. 1995 to probably 1998, give or take a year or two, during which they released two 12”s, three 7”s (including a split with Unruh on Feast and Famine) and the aforementioned CD.

What I like about Enewetak is that their sound is unapologetically dirty and fierce. Unlike bands like Kilara, Cavity - or Eyehategod, for that matter - they don’t rely quite as much on long sludgy jams (they had no problem getting their point across in under a minute) and the slow parts they did use were frequently interspersed with grind attacks and more angular metal riffing.

The name and appearance of their 1996 7” The Easyrider Sessions Vol. I (and there never was more than a Vol. I) on Buk Buk Records might lead you to assume that this a little disc chock full of southern rock, but really it’s a big ol’ tribute to Black Sabbath (whose members they thank individually in the insert). ‘The Accident’ and ‘Armageddon’ are the most obvious examples in that regard, but you also get bits and pieces in some of the other songs. The Easyrider Sessions Vol. I is thus not entirely representative of what Enewetak did on their other releases, but it’s every bit as enjoyable as any of them (though Guns. Elvis loved them. probably takes the cake for best title).

Members of Enewetak went on to be in Hot Pursuit, The Mistake and Tafkata. I haven’t heard any of these bands, so if you have an opinion on them feel free to comment.

Enewetak – The Accident
Enewetak – Deathbed
Enewetak – Supercrust
Enewetak – Armageddon
Enewetak – It’s a small world after all
Enewetak – Cease to exist