Elusive God - The Darkest Flame (Digital EP)

traditional doom metal, Solitude Digital, Solitude Digital
2 reviews Write a review
Digital
SD. 012-20 digital

This product is electronically distributed.

Fortress of sound equal to the brutal cosmic punch in the face of an ancient disgusting mythological giant awakened from the aeons of eternal sleep by earth-shaking, almost razor-sharp epic riffs. Expression at the very limit of suffering, anger, bitterness and euphoria, intertwined with embodiment of the darkest thoughts from the deepest corners of the soul and consciousness.
This is doom. This is metal from Croatia.
For us, it's really all about the return of the mysticism. It's all about bringing back darker, "larger than life" story into the music. It’s about bringing back the meaning and reconnecting with what matters most - expression, art and the story it tells.
Elusive God’s intention is to express our creative visions through slow, heavy and atmospheric music.
In a way, this is the return of metal. Why? Because the music that used to blow us away with energy, honesty, meaning and nonconformity is in the wake of extinction. It's dominated by a complete lack of creative vision and playing by established patterns with total disregard of the mystery and visual component. Yet, maybe the most unfortunate fact is a complete loss of the mystical and dark aura that used to embrace the whole genre with all of its performers.
Metal as we see it is over the top, mysterious, layered and it takes much more than superficial listening or consuming to delve deeper into the very message that music conveys. It also has a strong visual imagery that, along with the musical part, represents two sides of the same coin which cannot exist without each other.

Tracklist:
1 Silence Is Our Doom 4:53
2 The Truth Untold 5:59
3 Dream Within a Dream 5:26
4 To Whom Do You Pray? 7:28

Artist:
Elusive God
Artist Country:
Croatia
Album Year:
2020
Title:
The Darkest Flame
Genre:
traditional doom metal
Format:
Digital
Type:
Digital EP
Label:
Solitude Digital
Cat Num:
SD. 012-20
Release Year:
2020
Barcode:
4061798626885
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
Review
Necromance
14.12.2020

Desde Croacia y a través de Solitude Productions, nos llega el nuevo Ep de ELUSIVE GOD, “The Darkest Flame”, una pequeña joyita dentro del doom, donde su música es pesada, heavy y oscura bebiendo de bandas como CANDLEMASS o SABBATH.

Con una formación desconocida, a través de cuatro canciones nos dan una lección de doom metal, alejada de los guturales predominantes hoy en día, donde la limpieza tanto musical como vocal, emergen de las tinieblas de una forma elegante y misteriosa creando un doom metal moderno pero con matices clásicos, tan solo escuchar el combo inicial con “Silence Is Our Doom” o “The Truth Untold”, para darnos cuenta que se oculta algo grande en su interior, ritmos pegadizos y densos, unos riffs pletóricos de sensaciones, una voz que te recordara a Bruce Dickinson en determinados momentos, pero envilecida por una atmosfera pesada que solo con unas melodías malévolas resurgen del heavy metal. Vaya dos temazos para empezar.

“Dream Within A Dream”, mantiene el pulso mientras baja el tempo, con una primera parte muy heavy y agresiva, abriéndose en una segunda parte con un solo embriagador y rockero, donde el silencio y la guitarra toman protagonismo antes del apocalipsis final, nivelazo. El cierre lo pone “To Whom Do You Pray”, el corte más largo del EP, que nos adentra en una espesa pesadilla de doom/heavy metal, donde los pasos con pies de plomo desolan las emociones internas, embellecidas por sendos pasajes instrumentales de gran belleza, primando la energía y los sonidos eléctricos en el primero y la elegancia y el silencio en el segundo. Un gran Ep que todo amante al doom debería escuchar.

Author: Juan Angel Martos
Solitude Productions 28.03.2021, 00:21
Review
Antichrist Magazine
16.11.2020

Croatian doom troupe, Elusive God, present their take on a very traditional sound with their EP, The Darkest Flame. A retro tinged romp through the dark reaches of the doom genre, this is most certainly one for those who are seeking out a taste of the sound that dominated heavy music in the days of yesteryear.

Our first taste of Elusive God comes in the form of the heavy as hell sludged out introduction of Silence is Our Doom. Musically, all of these songs crush, but the opening track is a real standout. The sludgy sound of the track maintains clarity throughout its run, never muddying itself into the territory of noise pollution. As the EP continues, the music settles into a nice classical doom sound. It’s cold and mournful, and beautifully gut wrenching sound that instills emotion deeply enough to stick around once the music has ceased.

The percussion on the EP is mixed very well, with a minimalist style that allows exciting and intricate patterns to convey the same feel of the static drums found in the more extreme forms of the doom genre.

Many of the sounds seem a bit muted, but they are still very present in the mix, creating an eerie effect, like an ever present ghost hovering about the EP’s run time.

Vocals on the EP, while not exactly this reviewers cup of tea, maintain the retro feel of the album. They are very theatrical in nature, existing somewhere in the space between Bruce Dickinson and King Diamond. They are very clean, with dramatic flourishes abundant. Fans of Ghost and early Sabbath will most certainly find themselves right at home.

Aside from the aforementioned Silence is Our Doom, To Whom Do You Pray is another standout track on the EP. An epic track that undergoes multiple stylistic and thematic changes, there is a heavy cinematic quality to the song that keeps the listener gripped. There is also a very quiet section that really lets the bass guitar shine at long last, which is always going to be a huge plus for this reviewer.

All in all, I give this one a thumbs up. While it might seem a bit tame for modern listeners, it achieves the sound that it strives for and that intention is clearly audible throughout the release. Give it a listen with open ears, try to appreciate the journey that Elusive God is taking you on. It’ll be worth it.

Author: Peter Morsellino
Solitude Productions 07.12.2020, 23:26
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