Metal - Rules

Well, I’d love to preface this review by giving a little background on this band, but Elenium’s website doesn’t have a band biography. Oh sure, there appears to be a link under the “Band” section of the site, but it’s a broken link. So all I know about this band is that they are from Finland, have released two EP demos and FOR GIVING / FOR GETTING is their debut album. While I’m not sure that the band name is inspired by fantasy writer David Edding’s “The Elenium Saga,” it’s a safe bet to assume so, since I’ve not seen the word used in any other context.

So what is Elenium really all about? It’s very hard to pigeon-hole this band into any one particular genre. Elenium show influences which include death metal, progressive metal, gothic metal, some nu-metal and even an occasional hint of jazz fusion. Most bands deny that they can be classified into one genre, even when they easily can be, but Elenium really can’t be. This can be a good thing if you’re an open-minded music listener, but not if you restrict your listening habits to one or two genres. Vocals are mostly in the death metal style, though not so garbled that the words can’t be made out. Parts of the album also showcase some clean vocals, sometimes in a gothic sort of style, sometimes in an almost whispering style. Elenium features a dual guitar lineup and a drummer that shuns the blast beats in favor of a more traditional metal, sometimes jazzy style of play. Having said all that, the stand-out instrument is probably the keyboards. Though the keys don’t dominate the album (some of the guitar leads are pretty decent), they certainly highlight it. Sometimes the keys merely create atmosphere, most of the time they dazzle in a neo-classical, symphonic playing style.

As I alluded to, FOR GIVING / FOR GETTING is an eclectic journey of differing styles of heavy music. For instance, “Imposter” has a soft piano intro before moving into a sort of gothic style that feels a bit like recent Katatonia meets mid-era Sentenced, yet death vocals dominate the song and a nice little guitar solo also makes an appearance. “Moments” reminds of Opeth with it’s dynamics, time changes and the use of death vocals on the heavier sections with clean vocals on the softer, acoustic parts. Yet, despite the Opeth vibe, the keys I mentioned earlier play a large part and the song is a very un-Opeth-like four minutes long. Other musical vibes pervade the album as well, such as the Manson-ish riff that appears in “Subcreator” and the clean, almost whispered vocals that appear in “Under the Mug.” There’s no end to the number of influences that make an appearance on this album, or the number of references that could be given. FG/FG is just a huge melting pot of varying influences.

Long story short ... Elenium is a band that people always on the look out for something different may enjoy. None of the songs want for creativity or originality, but neither do they slap you in the face and demand your attention. A full download of the opening track is available on the band website, so go and check it out for yourself.

Highlights: Up the Long Ladder, Impostor, Moments,
Influences: Progressive Metal, Death Metal, Gothic Metal

3.0 / 5

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