One thing bad that may be said about doom/stoner metal or whatever drug reference metal you want to make in there, is that the imagery and concept is getting a bit tiresome. Suns, weed, moons, planets, Templars, all of this shit's a bit overdone now, but really, it doesn't matter when the band in question is able to pull off the immense, sublime quality of better doom that makes it sound so fucking awesome.
ELKS do it big and in all caps, but they probably should have chosen a better animal representation for their sound, because, yeah, elks are hulking and all, but calling these guys Megalocerus probably would have prepared you for Destined for the Sun a lot better. Not enough, though; it would prepare you about as much as a tsunami report ten seconds before it hits, but hey, at least you'd know what to expect.
Calling this an EP might be a bit of an overstatement, because there's enough antler here to take up a whole goddamn wall. Destined for the Sun opens with the strangely titled "White Fangs Learns to Hate", and immediately you're completed disemboweled. ELKS have a sharp, unrefined sound all over, a thick, egg nog stew that makes your liver fall to pieces. The drums have dirty bite, the bass is all sludged out as we like it, and the guitars sound like they were probably recorded through a tube amp that was flickering out. One noticeable quality of these guys is the singing, which goes well beyond the usual doom calls and wails. There's a careful layering with what sounds like perhaps three different dudes singing together occasionally, but it's cut-up and raspy as shit. Lots of bands sing about weed and going into space, but it sounds like ELKS probably smoked enough weed to give themselves throat cancer and they may have spent a bit too much time in the airless cosmos. At times the delivery is more like heavy spoken-word than singing, and perhaps a bit hardcore punk, but that really doesn't do it enough justice, suffice to say it will get your attention and bear down upon you.
Destined for the Sun also carries a rather interesting sci-fi theme throughout the lyrics, which is somewhat unexpected. Most bands that do the doom thing just throw out a couple of dirges about the sun or witches without really thinking into it, but ELKS take it to the next level. The lyrics tell the story of a peaceful planet being colonized by this evil technological empire, and then the inhabitants are sent into their sun. But it doesn't end there, see, then a Rift Wurm hears their screams, knocks them off course, and sends them to a desolate planet where they rebuild and become space vikings. Yes, it is that awesome. So unlike some bands of this type, you don't see ELKS playing stock footage while wearing costumes to play some preconceived, misunderstood role, these guys are into what they play, and their sound proves it. It's like the soundtrack that should have been for Dune, and it's easily just as immense with a spectacular amount of diversity. It's sweaty, uninterested in superficiality, and layered just right. Expect big things from these boys, Destined for the Sun is one hell of a debut. You can listen to it in its entirety by clicking on the link below.
Bandcamp
Written by Arkus
