BAND: LIFECURSE
ALBUM: “ELYSIUM”
RELEASE DATE: JULY 18, 2013
LABEL: INDEPENDENT
GENRE: METALCORE
RATING: 8.5/10
Elysium is Lifecurse’s newest release, and what an effort it is. The album combines the tried and true metalcore formula of brutally harsh vocals with soaring cleans, two-step worthy breakdowns, and pounding rhythm sections, and adds in the occasional hint of melody and tasteful electronic moments. Elysium can best be described as a tasteful metalcore album.
Elysium starts off with an electronic introduction called “Black Genesis,” which inspires a quick bout of fear that the album will be loaded with synthesizer breakdowns and autotuned clean vocals, but the second track, “Dead Weather,” quickly silences those doubts. The track sets the album on the path that it follows throughout the album, with layered screams, heavy breakdowns, melodic lead guitar work, and tight clean vocals.
Lifecurse packed ten songs into thirty-seven minutes on Elysium, but each song is allowed to play out at a natural pace. Nothing feels rushed or slowed down, and no song has a lifespan that is longer than necessary, something to be grateful for in the days of attempted metalcore epics on what seems to be every album.
The production on Elysium is outstanding. The album, produced by Kyle Odell, is in the top tier of modern metal production. The bass player’s cleans have a soaring quality, a very graceful complement to vocalist Will Moss’s raspy screams. The guitar tone is also phenomenal, quickly changing from a very controlled crunch to a beautiful clean melody. The drummer is phenomenal, locking right in with the bass, and pounding away through some of the fastest double kick segments and fills with a flourish that only comes from real ability.
Lifecurse has crafted a special album on Elysium. Drawing from metal both past and present, the album is very hard hitting, yet strikingly melodic. Elysium has proven that Lifecurse is ready to hit the big leagues.
