Elizabeth - Where Vultures Land Album Review
If you’re a fan of Throats, Rise and Fall, Converge, The Hope Conspiracy etc then this is an album you need to hear.
rating: 3.5
Website: www.ezbth.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/elizabethpunk Release date: 4th April, 2012 Elizabeth doesnt really sound like the name of a hardcore band who possess a sound so bloody filthy and explosive that it could split your head in two does it? In fact, the name just reminds me of one of my grandmothers friends who I still call Auntie for some reason, even though shes so far away from being an actual family member she may as well be just a complete stranger. However, putting that image of Auntie Elizabeth away and solely listening to the band, its soon clear that the bands name is irrelevant. It doesnt matter because the music is that good. Their music does try to crack your head in two; shaking it with the grinding and halting guitars before being completely smashed by the barks and screams of vocalist Javier Varela, but the sheer fluidity and know-how of the structures of the tracks ensure you that its a controlled, potent amalgamation of sound. The intense anger and hollowed-out hardcore feel rings clear in all aspects of this album and it comes as no surprise, then, that the band is championed by the aptly named Throatruiner Records, whove been so kind to get in touch with us and let us know about the bands they help out. I suppose that being a band whore on a label who distribute titles from the likes of Deathwish, Southern Lord and Robotic Empire, you must be held in high-esteem. And, this is clear, when you learn that, through a home-recorded demo, Elizabeth toured through Europe and shared nearly forty stages with the upper-crust of European hardcore/punk. With Where Vultures Land, their debut EP, the band has carved their way into the heaviest and most intense group of hardcore, alongside bands such as Converge, Rise and Fall and The Hope Conspiracy. First track, Darkness, starts with a dirty bass line with a lot of feedback from the guitars surrounding it. This feedback then gets eaten away by a stop-start riff and a consistent drumbeat which both clash alongside the rusted shards of the vocals which splinter and fester away at the sound. The moaning pinches of the guitar add that much more anguish to the track, leaving you feeling as let-down by the world as much as those pinches feel. It induces an almost hypnotising feel, one that you cant let go of, and in turn sets the rest of the album nicely. This opening track brings to mind mid 90s Converge and the more modern work of Throats. http://youtu.be/Pgzv6-3xKfo Sailors Grave is probably the most accessible track on offer. The vocals are more crafted here, in the sense that theyre settling in behind the music instead of exploding past it as the rest of the tracks show. The riff transgresses and flows smoothly, allowing a drumbeat which builds up and up to really take centre-stage while the vocals are wailed and almost crooned at the listener in a way which is really unlike the rest of the album. Its an interesting track, one that shows the band on a very different level. Heartbeats is the most visceral track here. The riff stop-starts, creating an almost constant breakdown and when the riff does become solid, it jangles around all over the place, showing a technical side to the bands sound. The whispering aspect to the vocals, in the middle of the song, shows a really eerie side to the band. In a way, the track is reminiscent of something off Rise and Falls latest album but Id go so far to say that Elizabeth hold a more visceral, raw sound than Rise and Fall, especially with the vocals. Rising Kingdom is an intense less-than-2-minutes-long track which shows major influences of Converge. Its more punk than hardcore in some ways, especially in the riff, but the vocals do still place some aspects of the track in the hardcore genre. Because its such a short track, it really grabs you by the face and throws you down into the dark recesses where it grows from, making for a dark, bleak finish to the album one that hardcore fans will love. Elizabeth are a band whore bound to make a much bigger name for themselves in the basis of this album. If youre a fan of Throats, Rise and Fall, Converge, The Hope Conspiracy etc then this is an album you need to hear. Theyre touring now so if youre about, go and catch them. You wont be disappointed.