Review Summary: Teeming with heavy moshing breakdowns, vocal variety, fast-paced riffs and lines that will stick with you for ages...Elysia's debut full-length titled 'Masochist' is truly MySpace-era deathcore in all its g(l)ory.
Back in 2006, the inter webs were flooded with tons and tons of chuggy deathcore bands...many of which I enjoy up to this day. You had the likes of We Are The End, Misericordiam, Underneath The Gun, and, of course, who could ever forget about these guys: Elysia.
Founded in California in the year 2003, this group was arguably the cream of the crop in terms of their style. They had everything: from breakdowns in varying speeds and lengths...to vocals both high and low...as well as the intensity of the drum blasts shattering their way through every single track; these guys had it all. It's just a shame they had to follow up to this CD with such a mediocre album (I'm looking at you, 'Lion of Judas') and inevitably break up like all those other MySpace-era dxc bands at the time being.
Getting right into it, the title track, entitled 'Disgusting', is merely an eight-to-ten second build-up track to everything that's yet to come for the following 30 minutes. This track basically consists of a few seconds of live crowds yelling in the background, with a demonic voice accompanying the holler. Then, the titular song comes on, and all hell breaks loose.
The guitar riffing in the intro is just phenomenal in terms of the style and genre. The slamming influence that rears its ugly, yet appropriate head is something that I've always loved and looked forward to in these types of bands. The vocals of the band consists of two distinctive styles that switch up every once in a while: one is comprised of low-pitched growls, while the others are high shrieks that are akin to other bands such as Salt The Wound & Arsonists Get All The Girls. The entire track is about five minutes long...making it about the longest in the whole CD.
So I'm not going to go into every single track, just the ones I liked the most and the ones that stood out the most to me...you know, because I feel like it.
The fifth track, called 'Triumph', is very memorable as well. The track features some squeals and more heavy breakdown riffing and slams in between.
The most notable track in the entire CD, titled 'Incinerate', is arguably very very groundbreaking and controversial, especially due to the lyricism and transitions involved. Right in the middle section of the track, the song goes into a heavy ass breakdown followed by one of my favorite lines in the entire genre: "WHO'S THE ***ING F@$%&T NOW?!" The energy in that section is just so amazing and orgasmic...so memorable!
In conclusion, 'Elysia' by Masochist is truly and most-definitely a highly-rated gem within the deathcore world that fully deserves all of the praise and notoriety that it has received and will hopefully continue to receive in the future. More dxc bands nowadays should recognize these guys and perhaps follow in their footsteps, take some pointers, will you noobs. So, in all, if you're a diehard fan of MySpace deathcore, or just heavy ass metal music, groundbreaking breakdowns, vocal variety, and some slams thrown in, then this is one that is well right up your alley.
FAVOURITE TRACK: 'Incinerate'
