Sunday, May 13, 2012

Eliminator-The One They Were Waiting For (2010)

Post #195
Eliminator were one of the independent bands I featured recently in a reader's poll. Although they did not win the 'Independent Band of the Year' title, I did discover a lot of their music during that competition. I was so impressed, and often times caught off guard, by their uncanny ability to meld the most diverse of rock and metal elements in their music that I must revisit their sounds for another review...

The One They Were Waiting For was truly the one I was waiting for...
The first track, 'Atish', does closely resemble their work from Breaking The Wheel, but the similarities quickly dwindle from there as the album plays on...

A spoken word interlude breaks the spell of the 18 minute black/thrash fest that is 'Atish' before the next song; a cover of Robert Johnson's 'Me and The Devil Blues'. Here is where Warchild and company depart from their evident path of finely fused black metal and thrash to deliver a remarkably honest rendition of this blues classic from the late '30's. The original song-structure is preserved for the most part, although the guitars and drums are still heavy and fully electric, while the vocal delivery maintains the demonic black-metal edge the band has established previously. There is an extended melodic breakdown where Eliminator add their own spin to this song, but after a couple minutes, they return to the classic blues progression to close the song. A truely memorable cover that will not easily be forgotten!

Another highlight of originality on this album is 'Honey Sacrifice' (which combined with 'Atish' accounts for over two-thirds of the album's total running time, as it clocks in at over 19 and a half minutes!). A heavy, rhythmic riff, with a throw-back rock n' roll feel, sets the early tone for this epic track. Throughout the song the music builds to the intensity of speed-black metal once again, then shifts gears with an extended clean and melodic segment near the end. A song absolutely similar to nothing I've head before.

Emilinator make it clear that when inspiration strikes, they roll with it, and let the music do the talking. There is more behind their direction than any genre, or trend, or fad, or scene, or anything you can think of... or perhaps it's just everything you can think of? Is it everything they can think of? Just wait and see. I doubt anybody can predict what this band will do next. Just wait for my review of thier 3rd release, And the Brokenhearted Balladeers...

For now check out these tracks from The One They Were Waiting For. Even if at first you might be left scratching your head, you may also be surprised how much some of these song can grow on you...
-Atish
-Me and the Devil Blues
-The Man in the Picture... to Become What One Is
-Honey Sacrifice

And don't forget to check out their websites, many of which have songs available to stream online:
http://eliminator.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/eliminatorus
http://www.facebook.com/eliminatorus

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