Eternal Elysium – Resonance of Shadows [2016; Cornucopia Records]

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Originally released with eight tracks, Eternal Elysium’s sixth studio album was reissued the following year with five more songs showing off the Japanese band’s retro heavy psych rock.  Trading freely between English and Japanese in the singing, the group unrolls busy blankets of pedaled guitar over crunchy bass groundings, while the drum-work jumps all over the place with its rhythm reinforcements and flourishes.  Inflections of prog crop up occasionally, with time signature change-ups and long trains of melody mutation, but the songs are generally fairly straight-forward with their song-writing, letting the guitar handle most of the twists.  There’s no notable divergence from the band’s usual style, but at the same time, there’s also no under-performance, as they maintain a respectable level of quality throughout the album.  Something more for existing fans of the group, but still enjoyable for what it is.

Sülfür Ensemble ‎- I (4 Songs About Dystopia, Satan, Ghouls & Marilyn Monroe) [2016; Morbid Syndicate]

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On their debut EP, the four-piece Turkish band of
Sülfür Ensemble

roll out a set of heavy sludge, delivering on the EP’s title with, in order, “Daily Hate”, “Plea”, “Karaçor“, and “Marilyn”.  Some choice film audio samples complement the fuzzy guitar, slabby bass, punchy drums, and rasping vocals, and while the band doesn’t do anything groundbreaking with the style, they do pull off a solid set for their first release, with enough flair put into the guitar touches to suggest the potential for cool embellishment in live performances.