Band: ELIXIR OF DISTRESS
Country: Poland
Title: Przeklęta Wyspa
Label: Independent
Year: 2019
Style: Atmospheric Black Metal

Review:
5 tracks in 45 minutes of playing time, so it's clear we're dealing with quite long compositions on this new Elixir of Distress album, but for them it seems to be normal as the previous, debut album, was even longer and had the same amount of tracks. The Torun based duo offers here some hypnotizing, repetitive and highly atmospheric pieces of mostly fast paced Black Metal with a sharp, high-pitched, almost abrasive production (with the instrumental part brought as upfront as possible, analog sounding but crystal-clear) that to me sounds like a success; I mean when you have such a blunt and organic production it's not a piece of cake to hypnotize the listener, but they do just that, with clever song-writing and just the right amount of repetition Elixir of Distress skillfully stand out from the crowd with this combination of organic production and mysterious, dense atmosphere built on and by "regular" instruments, without the use of keyboards or something else. Bottom line we're treated here with a heavy, dense, menacing, bleak dose of Black Metal that can impress a large portion of listeners of this wide genre.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8.5/10

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