Review Summary: Elitist takes their blaze of glory from Caves, and makes a very forgettable record.
I'm a big fan of Elitist. Ever since I heard "Caves", I knew it wasn't just a normal metalcore record. Featuring hard hitting riffs, solid instrumentals, and a nice progressive feel, I thought Elitist surely were up-and-comers to the music scene.
After months of waiting in anticipation, I got my hands on a copy of their newest "Earth" EP. Featuring two new members (Andrew Slane on drums and Alex DeHeart on vocals), I was a little skeptical on how the album would play out. After multiple listens and a few nights of denial, Elitist shattered my expectations by making one of the most disappointing and forgettable EP's of the year.
"Earth" is an EP, so it's not a full-length album. There are only seven tracks on it - 4 being new songs, and 3 being instrumental versions of them. That alone made me cringe, as I'm never one to like multiples of the same song on any album. However me being the optimist I am, I still had a shred of hope.
"Pulse" starts out this short journey with a rehashed riff from "Fracture" (or vice versa), and then proceeds to a polyrhythmic breakdown, similar to "Transcend" from the "Caves" EP. Nothing memorable, nothing special. It then proceeds to "Specter", another forgettable song. Featuring pretty basic riffs, a lot of pinch harmonics, and some slight wankery, it's a disappointing track.
We then proceed to "Of Creations", undoubtedly the most bearable song on the album. It starts out with a damn catchy breakdown, with some staccato rhythm picking, sure enough to make the average listener to bob their head a few times. It features some creative riffs, but they are short lived. The final "real" song on the album is "Fracture", another standard mix of riffing, with some short-lived solos, and a lot of breakdowns. However there is a nice synth melody at the end of the song, which makes for a decent change of pace.
The last 3 tracks on the album are all instrumental versions of "Specter", "Of Creations", and "Fracture". Seeing as Alex DeHeart is a very boring and muddy-sounding vocalist, the instrumentals actually are the better half of the album.
You won't find anything special on this album, at all. Elitist spent a lot of time making a very average and bland EP. From someone who had high hopes for their next release, they were shot down very quickly.
