Croatian doomsters, Elusive God drop their first long player since forming in 2018. “Trapped In A Future Unknown” follows a series of single releases and 2020’s “The Darkest Flame” EP and shows a young band ready to make some serious, atmospheric doom noise.
Opening with “Wrath From Above”, the gritty sludge doom and sliding opening riff immediately grabs your attention. A bit like Germany’s Dawn Of Winter, this lurches into a swinging beast. The vocals are right at the forefront of the mix and show a Bruce Dickinson styled power when they let loose. The track twists and turns with Pentagram influenced hooks before moving into the mammoth riffage on “Shadow, Beast, Devil” where the vocals truly explode. Black Sabbath’s “Into The Void” seems to have been referenced on “Worthless Words” where the heavy chords are sliced with a guitar break that attacks and screams through. Staying with the Sabbath vibe, the next couple of tracks feel very influenced by the great band’s “13” album where big, doom atmospherics are in abundance.
The drumming is often hard hitting and propulsive but it’s hard to ignore the power and quality of those vocals. Clean and dramatic with each word enunciated for full effect, the Iron Maiden frontman would surely approve. Although the stronger songs are on the album’s first half there is nevertheless real ear worm quality on tracks like “Where Is The Sun”. The near eight minute closing number “Dreaming Of Reality” is sombre, reflective and has a certain restraint in comparison to the rest of the album.
Elusive God have delivered a fine debut full length. Shining vocals and some really strong, classic sounding riffs make for an album that is well balanced and pushes in enough directions to keep it interesting. For fans of classic doom sounds, these Croatians are well worth keeping an eye on.
(7.5/10 Johnny Zed)
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