What's with Texas these days? Man there are a lot of bands coming out of the lone star state, and the scene is better for them. Embodyment, Within, Travail, Faithbomb, Godfear, and now Eloi.
Eloi lays out a solid 14 tracks of serious groove influenced metal. This is a self produced CD that is done very well including a full color insert and a center photo spread that is cool.
Musically the band is good, they are tight and have a great sound. I would have liked to hear the drummer, Jeff Gothard, go off more than he did. Not that his drumming is bad but it feels somewhat reserved acts as a time keeper but effectively creates the bottom end rhythm for the band.
Vocally Seth Poor handles his band duties with great skill. I like his voice a lot. Somewhat heavy and fast but very understandable as a groove vocalist should be. The only complaint I have here is that in nearly every song there is a point when the vocals go soft. Now I don't mind and, in fact, expect this to happen within some groove oriented songs. However, for it to happen this often gives the songs a patterned feel. I would have liked to have seen a couple of the songs stick with the heavy vocals all the way through.
There is no doubt as to their stance, for they "Sincerely thank and is deeply grateful to God for bringing us together to be a part of an awesome opportunity." However a few of the songs have lyrics that make me wonder what their view points on a few topics are exactly. An example of this is in the song On My Own which talks about being alone in a harsh world and mentions in one point "Guess I've forgotten how to pray." This starts out as a great song but the ending says " Change is on my mind, I like to know, that when I find the time, could I come back home." Now if this song is talking about coming back home to the grace of God's light then why would this person be waiting to find the time? Obviously he has realized his situation and should be finding the time NOW. There a couple of others but I plan to do an interview with the band and will bring them up there so they can defend these points. Look for the interview in Issue 5 of Dead to answer these questions.
Over all not a bad effort in the least, and with the need for good groove bands Eloi is certainly a CD I'm keeping active in my CD player. Seriously heavy Death fans, and full on hardcore fans may not find the same appreciation but anyone who enjoys Tool, Pantera, or CoC will find this CD very entertaining.
7/10
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1997Reviewed by Mark J. AylorIf you like groove with just enough grunge to keep things interesting, here's a little indie for you. Eloi puts together a sound that deserves to be played with the car windows down, the volume cranked up, and the bass blasting through your speakers for the entire neighborhood to hear. From a slow groove to a near grunge drive, Eloi dishes up variety in their droning guitars and…Similar sounding releases
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1998Virgin BlackTrance
2000Theocracy A.D.Strength of Many
