PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The Elijah are a 5 piece Post-rock progressive metal band from Shropshire, who recorded this release in an abandoned country mansion, to get the natural reverb and inherently bleak sound you would associate with such a building . ‘I Loved I Hated I Destroyed I Created’ is their debut album which at times is as equally challenging as it predictable.
The almost angelic vocals of Mike McGough are stunning throughout, the singer/guitarist certainly turns out to be an expressive vocalist. Combining with him and bringing out the opposite screamo element of the sound is Dan Tomley, his disruptively harsh delivery within the tracks brings the dark and violent undercurrent of the album to the fore, indeed he seems to use his vocal passages as another instrument.
However impressive ‘In Misery ‘ the opening track is, the band never seem to push the boundaries they have set for themselves, as each track seems to be a continuation of the previous one, the only respite the listener gets is on the instrumental track, ‘In Regret’ and which to me, unfairly, is one of the best tracks on this release.
I want to really like this record, and it is a very good piece of work, dark brooding lyrics and at times simply stunning musical arrangements, but Dan’s over aggressive style sometimes hinders, rather than compliments the songs. There is very little in variation in any of the tracks, and it is very hard to listen to this opus all in one sitting.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a challenging record to listen to, and while they are doing it differently from other Post-Rock genre bands, it is the instrumentation found in nearly every song that hold this record back, as it is simply not as diverse as it should be. 5/10
Tracklist:
1. In Misery
2. I Loved
3. In Fear
4. I Hated
5. In Regret
6. I Destroyed
7. In Death
8. I Created
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theelijahuk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/theelijahuk
Check out the video for “I Destroyed”
