Review Summary: If Mr. Ahmed can hang onto the new trio of seemingly young and immensely talented musicians who support this resurrection, songs like these may see TCA ascend beyond the hype online to the heights they deserved back in 2010.
The legacy of Guardians aside, this EP is a massive statement for a band with such a bizarre past. I'm washed enough to remember the fallout from Convictions, the tantrum of Guardians 2.0, and the unceremonious disappearance of Saud Ahmed and the revolving door of characters jumping in and out of a clearly dysfunctional project (let's agree to consider The Holy Guile as an extension of The Crimson Armada saga). Wake up post-pandemic, nearly 16 years since Guardians went on sale via Metal Blade (still shook by that collab), and the cringe has been showered off in nostalgia, and Mr. Ahmed returns to take another crack at the core kids with disposable income and crippling student debt.
Damned from the start, redeemed in their rebirth - that is the feel one gets while listening to Elements. It is raw, it is grainy, it is not Guardians despite what the comment section says. Yes, it does have the soaring melodies, diminished scales, At The Gates riffs, and Strnad vocals, but don't expect to be sated as an old-school fan of The Crimson Armada thinking they have returned to catch lightning in a bottle, twice. This EP is quite frankly a departure from their previous Ohio deathcore stylings to take on more melodeath roots with sprinkles of beatdown and 2000s metalcore. And even though Saud's voice sounds clean, convincing and enjoyably harassing as it bellows, screeches and yells in esoterica, oozing with allusions to their debut, his voice has a tinge of exhaustion that fits perfectly with the new saturated mix and overworked compressor, telling us that the Sturgis-core sound is dead and this is a new era for TCA. Thus, a veteran listener of The Crimson Armada will hear this as a hard reset rather than a fix, and new listeners may be fooled by the demo aesthetic thinking they have stumbled upon some deathcore classicism. We are greeted with a rougher, yet sharper band that elevates its jaded vocalist with young blood and clearly more cohesion than prior iterations of the group.
Although, where this album succeeds in finally showcasing the talents and passion of a real band, clearly rejecting the artificial aesthetics of its downfall in the 2010s, it fails in conceptually capturing the listener in whatever abstractions it tries to hook into its melodeath appeal. This is not only in the lyrics that fail at aping Guardians' use of Old Testament motifs. Instrumentally, this honestly dated style of core struggles to synchronise with Ahmed's persona: high, low, gorilla yell, gasp; nothing seems to sound like it has any conviction despite the immensity of its sound and performance. A fun juxtaposition here would be to visit a melodeath contemporary in the more evil departments which TCA borrows from - say Revocation or The Black Dahlia Murder - and hear how effortless the marriage between theme and instrumentation of the lyrics and guitar licks. Elements tries too hard, especially when reviewing the songs, lyrics and visual package as a whole. But you should not shy away from giving this EP a chance. I merely wish to express how close this EP is to succeeding where TCA failed before. The ideas are brave, and I hope that the next round sees more songs more patiently woven into a cohesive narrative rather than vague metaphysics. Maybe a complete album next time?
The highlight of the release is definitely "II. The Maelstrom", with some sludgy but psychedelic leads, slam-scented riffs that follow an obvious melodeath blend, supported by tight thrashy drums and tempo changes to keep your attention. Saud and his new musketeers are tight, energised and youthful here, playing with the established template enough to prick the ears up and look for more. I suspect that style will be the direction the band goes when comparing this with the other tracks, as the song is the only number on this release that feels like a band in unison rather than a mish-mash of ideas from a ghostwriting session. If Saud can hang onto the new trio of seemingly young and immensely talented musicians who support this resurrection, songs written and played like "The Maelstrom" may see TCA ascend beyond the hype online. Personally, I'm rooting for ol' @saudapop this time.
