Roger Ebert once said that just because he gives a horror movie a four star review and a drama movie a four star review doesn’t mean that they’re relative to one another. I feel this way when it comes to reviewing any kind of music. Within one genre, there is a Middle Earth-style map of subgenres that are waiting to be explored. We'll come back to this later.
Today’s focus is Elitist, a metalcore band from Los Angeles, California. The band released their self-titled second studio album through Equal Vision Records. This is by far one of the most brutal metal albums I’ve heard all year. I’m a big fan of production when it comes to metalcore shows and albums, but I feel like this is one band that doesn’t need it. There is something so completely pure about the tone and production of their music. It absolutely RIPS through the entire eleven-track record.
With barely any moment of rest, the four-piece band tear through a number of tracks such as “Vision Red”, “Idle Hands”, “Deadweight”, and my personal favorite, “Creatures of Habit”. Just wait until the breakdown in that one kicks in. I listened to it and wanted to start running around the office.
There are a few calmer moments that are stitched into the middle of the album: “Amber”, a more ambient, instrumental track; and “Gone”, the only track to not feature any screaming vocals, providing a nice interlude from the chaos while still providing an emotionally uplifting moment in the album.
I started this review off with that little introduction because I feel like metalcore can get the short end of the stick sometimes. Within this industry, this particular subset of metal appears to be the most commercially-profitable, as evidenced by many Warped Tour lineups of the past few years. That's not a bad thing either, but it means that more haters are going to come out from behind computer keyboards, and judgments will be cast because a band is "on the main stage" or a "sell out". Just because a band plays metalcore does NOT mean they can't shred like the best of them. Case in point: Elitist’s self-titled. See you on Main Stage in a year or two, guys. Damn good work.
This has been another Shameless Promotion.