Enterprise Earth is an American deathcore band. Once just one of many online deathcore projects that only had an advantage because of the fame that Dan Watson had gained from Infant Annihilator, they steadily proved themselves as a talented act that could function on its own merits, rather than just "Dan from Infant Annihilator's new band", and became a fast-rising star in modern deathcore.
Formed in Spokane, Washington in 2014 by Dan Watson (vocals) and BJ Sampson (guitar), the lineup quickly grew to include Kevin Rogers (guitar), Cliff Wagle (ex-Demolisher) (guitars), Conner Schneberger (bass), and Ryan Folden (drums). They almost immediately released "Masquerade of Angels", their first single, followed by the XXIII EP later that year. 2015 was the year that they hit the ground running, as Patient 0, their debut full-length, was released, and they began touring that August. Numerous lineup changes also occurred over the course of the year that eventually settled with ex-I Declare War members Yusuf Johnson and Gordon McPherson, as well as Will Garcia to round out the guitar spots followed by Aaron O'Toole joining on drums in early 2016. Wagle and Will Garcia left in 2016, however, and Joel Omans (who was out of Rings of Saturn at the time) joined for a few months before leaving the band. In spite of their lineup difficulties, the band recorded Embodiment, their sophomore full-length, which was released in early 2017. Johnson and McPherson also left during the year, and Gabe Mangold started out as a live guitarist before joining at some point in the year. 2018 brought more touring, the induction of Rob Saireh on bass, and a deal with Entertainment One Music, and they recorded their debut for the label in the middle of the year. It was also the point where BJ Sampson formally stepped down from touring (after having not toured with the band for some time). 2019 saw the debut of Luciferous, their third full-length, as well as the departure of Aaron O'Toole to pursue a full-time drum teaching career and a coheadlining tour with Lorna Shore. While no future tours have been announced as of the writing of this page, it goes without saying that they are planned and will be announced in due time.
As of 2022, Dan Watson has formally departed, leaving no original members. After completing the first few tours in support of The Chosen, Travis Worland was announced as his replacement in June of 2022.
Discography:
- Masquerade of Angels (2014) (single)
- XXIII (2014) (EP)
- Patient 0 (2015)
- This Hell, My Home (2016) (single)
- Embodiment (2017)
- Only Hell Will Embrace the Damned (2018) (single)
- Luciferous (2019)
- Foundation of Bones (2020) (EP)
- The Chosen (2022)
- Psalm of Agony (2022) (single)
- Death Magick (2023) (single)
- The World Without Us (2023) (single)
- King of Ruination (2023) (single)
- Death: An Anthology (2024)
I KNOW I WAS MEANT FOR SOMETHING MORE! THAN TO DIE AS A TROPE IN THIS EMPTY WORLD!:
- Alien Abduction: "Masquerade of Angels".
- Ascended Extra: Joel Omans, for the very brief period of time that he was in the band, as his initial appearance was as a guest lead player, Gabe Mangold, who started out as an emergency fill-in and was quickly drafted as a full member, and Brandon Zackey, who was drafted as a fill-in after Aaron O'Toole left and the band spotted his covers and was inducted in as their new drummer. The same was also true for Travis Worland and Dakota Johnson, who started off as live replacements for Dan and Rob before being hired on full-time.
- Audience Participation Song:
- "The Failsafe Fallacy": "THERE! IS NO FAILSAFE!"
- "Where Dreams Are Broken": "I MAY BE BROKEN, BUT IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO TAKE A STAND! WORDS LEFT UNSPOKEN, ARE LEFT IN MY MIND, WHERE DREAMS ARE BROKEN!"
- Concept Album: Patient 0 (about a Mad Doctor and an evil hospital) and Embodiment (about an alien envoy sent to observe and judge humanity).
- Cover Version: They have covered "Fermented Offal Discharge" and "Now You've Got Something to Die For".
- Deathcore: Started out as a generally breakdown-heavy example of the genre that wasn't a million miles from Yusuf Johnson and Gordon McPherson's alma mater I Declare War, but gradually went in a more technical and melodic direction with noticeable MySpace deathcore sensibilities.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Their early material was far more breakdown-centric and less technical, and they had more prominent horror and conspiracy-based lyrical themes than the more personal ones that they would later settle on.
- Epic Rocking: "Overpass" (7:47), "There Is No Tomorrow" (8:24), and "The Chosen" (8:34).
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: "Shroud of Flesh".
- Genre Roulette: A central feature of The Chosen, as they mix various deathcore styles with melodic metalcore, Groove Metal, Thrash Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Nu Metal, and Technical Death Metal by jumping between multiple genres in the same song.
- Groove Metal: This began to creep into their sound during the Gabe Mangold era, and is now a fairly prominent part of their post-BJ sound, best exemplified on tracks like "Sleep Is For the Dead", "Foundation of Bones", "Reanimate // Disintegrate", and "I Have to Escape".
- Humans Are Bastards: "He Exists".
- I Am the Band: BJ Sampson for the first few years of their existence. He gradually dialed down his contributions before he quietly left completely and handed the band over to Gabe Mangold, who also assumed this status.
- In Name Only: They do not have any original members as of 2022, when Dan formally left.
- Lyrical Cold Open: "PSALM OF AGONY!"
- Metal Scream: Dan was widely known for his distinctive Type 2 strangled, terse bellow, as well as his Type 3 highs. Travis, meanwhile, is more of a Type 1, but he is equally capable of Type 2 and Type 3.
- New Sound Album: Several:
- Embodiment was less breakdown-oriented and more technical and melodic, with a vastly increased lead guitar presence.
- Luciferous toned down the lead guitar presence, but took a significantly more atmospheric approach that was heavily influenced by the writing style of Gabe Mangold. "Only Hell Will Embrace the Damned" was something of a teaser for this direction, as it marked Gabe's first writing contribution.
- The Chosen greatly increased the clean vocal presence, with more complex compositions with numerous tempo changes that often border on Progressive Metal, as well as more prominent groove metal and melodic metalcore elements.
- Older Than They Look: Dan Watson looks like he's in his late teens or very early twenties. He's actually thirty-one.
- Perishing Alt-Rock Voice: Dan and Travis's cleans, though both are also capable of pitched shouts more akin to post-hardcore.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Dan Watson is tiny.
- Revolving Door Band: They had near-constant turnover in the first several years of their existence, and while it has slowed down, they have still not gone a single year without a lineup change.
- Soprano and Gravel: Dan included cleans in "There Is No Tomorrow" (though Gabe handles them live), though he had used them in Mire Lore prior to that. They were given far greater prominence on The Chosen, which also introduced pitched shouts in addition to the Perishing Alt-Rock Voice previously seen.
- Special Guest: They have had guest appearances from Dickie Allen (Infant Annihilator), Orion Stephens (In Dying Arms), Joel Omans (Rings of Saturn), Adam Warren, and Matt Honeycutt (Kublai Khan), and Chris Wiseman was basically a session writer and member on Embodiment, as he wrote and tracked all the leads. On the live front, Travis Worland (Aethere, The Willow) started out as a fill-in before joining full-time in 2022, while Mike Caputo and Aron Hetsko (The Xebellian Triangle) have served as fill-in drummers.
- Start My Own: This was how the band started; BJ Sampson was out of Takeover, and Dan was done working with Infant Annihilator, and the two started talking online and decided to form a band. Dan also started his side project Mire Lore with Frankie Cilella (ex-Bodysnatcher) as a just-for-fun venture that had no intention of ever playing live, though he has suggested that this may change now that it is his sole gig.
- Vocal Evolution: Dan's lows gradually became less guttural (from his days in Infant Annihilator) and morphed into his distinctive strangled bellow.
- Vocal Tag Team: For live shows, Travis does all of the harshes and some of the cleans (primarily the pitched shouts), while Gabe handles the backing cleans (namely on "The Failsafe Fallacy") and the Perishing Alt-Rock Voice cleans.
- Walking the Earth: Gabe Mangold is voluntarily homeless and lives out in the New Mexico desert in a converted van and trailer, the latter of which has a recording studio set up inside.
