Enforced

Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Enforced functions as a no-holds-barred crossover thrash unit that merges punk, death metal, hardcore, and thrash into a ferocious barrage recalling the punishing methods of early extreme metal trailblazers Bolt Thrower, Amebix, and Sacred Reich. Their opening full-length, At the Walls, surfaced in 2017, succeeded by the Century Media-released second album Kill Grid in 2021 and the ferocious War Remains in 2023.

The ensemble assembled in 2017 around vocalist Knox Colby, drummer Alex Bishop, bassist Ethan Gensurowsky, and guitarists Zach Monohan and Will Wagstatt, each already linked to the thriving Richmond hardcore punk milieu. Issued on the Los Angeles-based independent War Records, At the Walls appeared in 2017, after which the group logged two years of live work alongside Red Death, Iron Reagan, All Out War, and Integrity. Strong notices for that debut prompted Century Media to place Enforced on its roster. Reuniting in the studio with At the Walls engineer Bob Quirk of Iron Reagan, the musicians finalized their next recording before routing it to Arthur Rizk—whose résumé includes Power Trip and Cavalera Conspiracy—for mixing and mastering, yielding Kill Grid in 2021. Running slightly longer than 30 minutes, the elemental War Remains of 2023 supplied a further onslaught of present-day crossover thrash.