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Elias Hulk - Unchained CD (album) cover

UNCHAINED

Elias Hulk

 

Heavy Prog

2.89 | 25 ratings

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Finnforest
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
2 stars Heavy garage rock sans keyboards

Elias Hulk were an English hard-rock band who initially released one album in 1970 before going their separate ways. Members of the band continued in music over the years and recently have reunited with a new album planned for 2012. Their 1970 album called "Unchained" could perhaps be described as a cross between Cream and Sabbath with a dose of psych influence. Hard and sludgy rock with some trippy softer moments, not as overtly bluesy as Cream could be, and certainly less dark than Sabbath were, but with elements of both. The album starts off quite poorly I must say, with the first two tracks being repetitive, boring, and quite juvenile songwriting. Thankfully it gets better after that. "Been Around Too Long" has a strong Doors vibe to it, somewhat laid back, with delicate guitar work that is right out of the Robby Krieger playbook. Of course here we have real bass guitar, and it is wonderfully strong and up front in the mix. "Yesterday's Trip" is just thundering bass and drums riffing with guitar leads on top. "Anthology of Dreams" sort of combines the heavy blasting with somewhat lighter vocal verses, combining the two sides of the group. "Free" is quite the departure with light percussion behind nuanced dual guitar leads, one playing trippy chords with the other nicely soloing on slide, some good atmosphere here. "Delhi Blues" continues the most diverse part of the album with continued slide against an Eastern feel and a raga drumming style. I wish I could be more complimentary of Elias Hulk but in my opinion this is a fair album only for fans of period hard rock. It could also be recommended to people who love a huge and heavy bass presence that often commands the proceedings. The players are good but the compositions are nowhere near as interesting at the bands I mention above. I will bet that their new material is much more entertaining than this early work.

Finnforest | 2/5 |

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