Fog Hat, Sabbath, Maiden,
Priest, aren't dead. Their spirit is in Japan. Japanese export Eternal Elysium
conjures up the fattest most powerful riff and weed metal to come down the pike
since Blue Oyster Cult pounded the shit out of the Stabler Arena. Color me
surprised that Japan would be the country to spawn Eternal Elysium. Not afraid
to pound power rock, dance on the edge of pretentiousness with wailing and
hedonistic vocals, go on nine minute power-ballads; Share
carries the spirit of a time when rock and roll seemed, like us,
eternal.
Schizy opens with the slutty guitar riffs that every hair band in the 80's wished they could do, with all the bluesy trimmings. Feel the Beat takes up where Husker Du's punk-metal left off. Thank god for CDs. Waiting for the Sun would have taken up an entire channel on the 8-track with all nine minutes being necessary to plod through this power ballad.
Machine is closer to modern metal tunes, reminiscent of the Butthole Surfer's Who Was in My Room Last Night. Love is All pounds a hard lusty metal hammer. Fairies Never Sleep is a vocal experimental piece that belongs at the end of the album (when everyone should be peaking, if you know what I mean) and seems to be a tribute to Ozzy and his tune Fairies Wear Boots.
A well-crafted album that can be played loud, Eternal Elysium has balls, for lack of a better description. No showboating riffs, just power, punch and metal. The only weakness is that its been done, and better, but since that hasn't happened consistently in nearly 25 years that's ok. Its slick, but not overly polished. The occasional awkward phrasing or pronunciation of the English word is rare. If this were an American band it would weaken the tune and seem immature. Being the band is comprised of Japanese natives making rhymes from words by saying "few-el" and "Crew-el" is, well, how to put this… cute.
Contact Information:
Post :Eternal Elysium, Meteor City Records, PO Box 40322,
Albuquerque, NM, 87196
E-Mail: info@meteorcity.com
Web:
http://www.meteorcity.com
