REVIEWS

REVIEW section : Split CD w/Of The Spacistor

Monolith by Pentheus

"How weird?" I thought just I heard the bluesy slide guitar of "Browny Brownie". What the hell was that!?! The heavier guitar riff I have ever heard from the Gibson of Yukito Okazaki. And just after that the hypnotic voice of his majesty (it sounds like a haunted elf)! This slowness lasts for 5 and a half minutes, before it turns into a hell of groove and solos. The whole song lasts 11 minutes! Boring you said? Not at all buddies! It's just superb!!! One of the top 5 songs of EE. In the point where "Browny Brownie" ends, the second begins. "Overprotected" starts in riffing speed that won't let you breathe. On the contrary it lasts 3.44 minutes. "The Sunpower" is the med-lasting song among the three. At about 5 minutes, not doomy, nor fast, it is just loose...
Though I expected to hear something psychedelic and trippy in the vein of Hawkwind, from Of The Spacistor, I met an alternative version of rock, filtrated through the music creativity of different paranoia, which reminded me of Voivod (plus Motorhead) in a heavy rock mixer. Sounds nice, but you'll have to listen to it more than 5 times, in order to classify it. An exact reflection of the band's name... "Parasite Image", "Shadow Grow" and "Daily Wall" are the three tracks from Of The Spacistor in this split. Recorded and mixed at Zen studios, in Nagoya, mastered at Soybean and enginnered by Yukito Okazaki.
And what about the artwork? One of the finest! If we have Malleus in Europe and Koznik in USA, now we got Takeru and Yukito (yeah, it's him once again!) in Japan! Reaaally cool! Just grap this cd whenever it can be found!

Rate: 11/13

Stoned Gods by Alex

From Japan we are happpy to announce this small pearl; we're talking about a split CD where Eternal Elysium get the change to release some new material along with another Japanese band, Of The Spacistor... all this thanks to the label Cornucopia records.
The first three songs on the cd are indeed by the rather well known Eternal Elysium, and this is indeed an impressive start for the whole split... Brownie Brownie is a 10 minutes song that shows everyone the band's muscles... the guitars are big, very big (impressive sound), and the songwriting is rather inspired, so that those 10 minutes do not bore you at all... very good! Overprotected is another rather heavy song, with a nice, groovy and traditional riff, and appealing vocals. Once again the sound is fucking impressive, those guitars are gigantic! The following and last song by EE is again very nice, very appealing and with a supercool "chill out" part... very well done Eternal Elysium!!!
The remaining 3 tracks, as I said, are played by Of The Spacistor, a band I've never heard of before receiving this split. Well, for sure the band is anything ordinary, so they do score high in the "originality" rating.
With Parasite Image things get weird since the beginning... this ain't no stoner, but rather something difficult to label... for sure there is some prog metal here, maybe some typical death guitar lines, some classic rock for sure because some of those riff come from faraway in the past, plus some other stuff I'm too ignorant to know... but what is important is the result, and that is pretty fucking impressive. If you can get past the initial shock, that is.
These songs here are astonishing, my favourite one being Daily Wall (perhaps the most ordinary one, but beautiful nonetheless) because they have very good riffs, they are intricate (so there's a lot to listen to) and I absolutely love the vocals. They are quite heavy, too! I want to know more about Of The Spacistor... now I know that in Japan there is more than one super rock band! EE and OTS are great! I am absolutely positive about this split cd, you should get it as soon as you find it!
Ratings: Overall rating: 5/5

StonerRock.com by Rob Wrong

At first I thought that the title 8 tracks meant that there were 8 cuts or songs on this split CD, but I think that it means that it's an 8 track recording since there are only 6 tracks...3 each? Man, what a tease...hehehe... Well, Eternal Elysium really is pulling out some serious business with these 3 new cuts, I think that America rubbed off on Okazaki a bit. The three cuts that they do are nothing short of great. Browny Brownie is an 11 minute epic of heavy tuned down goodness, great leads and pounding rhythms. This song is worth the CD's purchase alone, and I am not kidding. Overprotected and Sunpower are shorter songs, but still a kick in the head as far as great tunes. Thick guitars that remind me of Acid King at times, and great production all the way through...you gotta have this if you are an EE fan for sure. Of The Spacistor is something I haven't ever heard before and is definitely a bit different than EE. This stuff reminds me of more Japanese sounding bands like The Bordoms or Ruins, busy riffs and very Asian sounding guitar sounds as far as choice of notes. This is a bit more hardcore and along the lines of Today is the Day or Dazzling Killmen. Full of energy and full of weird hard soul...I am certainly glad that I have gotten this chance to check them out, and goes nicely with the EE stuff as far as being a bit different and offsetting the sound. Again, out of the two bands, EE is king on this CD in my eyes; and a lot of people that liked Share will see that this is a step in a more matured direction for them. They are Sabbath and Maiden influenced all the same, but Okazaki and company are really starting to carve their own style, and when I hear this I know who it is straight away without any question of a doubt. Get this one for sure if you own the other two EE albums.

HellrideMusic.com by Chris Barnes

It's been a little while since we heard from Japan's Eternal Elysium... their last album, Share, was a powerhouse of 70's influenced doom-edged heavy-psych with more wah than a room full of newborns. They followed that up with a tour of the U.S. with Witch Mountain, culminating in a awe-inspiring performance in Arizona at the Stoner Hands of Doom IV. They came a long way to rock, and rock they did. This is the next chapter in the Eternal Elysium chapter, three stellar songs to tide us over until the next full length. To call these multi-textured is an understatement... "Browny Brownie" starts off with a slow n' low post-Sabbathian riff and maintains the dread to the point of a truly surprising, ultra chunky breakdown that almost sounds like a completely different song. "The Sunpower" is a glorious mid-tempo, distortion-drenched epic with a moody interlude then.... POW!! Another mind-melting melt down and a finish into retro-groove glory. Guitarist/vocalist Yukito Oskazaki is clearly the star of the show, keeping the EE sound true n' blue despite a revolving door of band members. Of the Spacistor is a band I know nothing about, except that they are also from the Land of the Rising Sun and the bass player sounds like a hyperactive Billy Sheehan. Actually, this band isn't too far off from fellow space/metal/rock pioneers Farflung in approach. The use of that...um... Flock of Seagull-ian sounding, spacey guitar coupled with a driving percussive section and a singer that sounds like Jello Biafra with a Japanese accent makes for an interesting listen. I can't pretend to absolutely love it, but it's different and it's got growth potential for discerning rawk palates.

Stonerrockchick.com by Steve Janiak

The latest offering from Japan's Eternal Elysium comes in the form of a split cd with fellow Japanese band Of The Spacistor. Featuring three songs from each group, this disc showcases the song craftsmanship and guitar chops of EE guitarist/vocalist Yukito Okazaki, and also introduces Of The Spacistor to Eternal Elysium's worldwide fans.

The intro song, Eternal Elysium's "Browny, Brownie" is an eleven minute epic in bluesy doom-inspired madness. It starts with a Clapton-esque blues run that sets a light tone, until the crushing weight of the main riff plows itÕs way into your head. The riff is incredibly thick and wide, and is complemented by some psychedelic bass and drum verses. Okazaki's cosmic wail is both filled with grief and menace, and he intersperses the bass and drum breakdowns with melodic leads and noises. Midway through the molasses of the song, a pause is followed by a stampede of unbridled, angry riffage peppered with tasty melodic solos. Eventually, it returns to the doomy theme set early on, for an extended psyched-out epic jam.

"Overprotected", Eternal Elysium's second track, is a midtempo number highlighted by it's memorable melodies, washed out wah action, and a head-turning backwards forwards riff. This cut fits somewhere between Down and early Monster Magnet. The last EE song, "Sunpower", melts the doom a bit with some singable hooks and acoustic interludes, (ala Mammoth Volume) yet it never lets you forget the reason you're listening, the almighty riff.

Okazaki writes his songs with a classic doom feel, yet maintains a blues edge and enough psychedelic echoes to show that theyÕve mastered their own niche. If you havenÕt already, go pick up this and all their other albums.

Of The Spacistor's first track caught me by surprise. Noisy and chaotic, it wasn't what I expected at all. "Parasite Image" is the kind of song that puts a hefty tension in the back of your neck. The rapid fire drumming and up front bass picking are a great contrast to the sheer agony created by the oversaturated, dissonant guitars and extreme suffering in the screaming-howling of the vocals. (and I mean that in a good way). The second cut, "Shadow Grow", immediately brought to mind the exquisite stress created by the Jesus Lizard, but with David Byrne in the place of David Yow. (or perhaps a cross between the two). By the third song, "Daily Wall", I finally figured out where the band was coming from. The most 'accessible' of the three tracks, "Daily Wall" is less noisy than it's predecessors. With more melody in the guitar department, the song has a more agreeable chorus and a chant ("HEY") towards the end. Still keeping their edge, they come closest to the style of Eternal Elysium on this track.

After repeated listens, Of The Spacistor's three songs grow on you like a skin eating bacteria. It's Japanese anguish rock, at it's most cathartic.

perkele.it by Bokal

Un breve giro bluesy di introduzione, poi una mazzata doom buia e pesantissima: cos“ si presenta Browny Brownie, il pezzo d' fapertura del nuovo CD con cui si rifanno vivi i Black Sabbath del sol levante, gli Eternal Elysium. Si tratta di uno split CD, condiviso con gli Of The Spacistor per l' fetichetta personale Cornucopia Records. La prima traccia percorre i sentieri giˆ tracciati dal gruppo capitanato da Yukito Okazaki, ovvero un lento incedere su cui la chitarra del leader la fa da padrona, assieme ad una voce molto particolare ed inconfondibile, ad opera dello stesso Yukito; la chitarra si tinge a tratti di accenti blues che la rendono molto interessante, anche se il fantasma di Tony Iommi aleggia in alcuni riff e soprattutto nell' faccelerazione che viene data al pezzo nella parte centrale, in pieno "Sabbath style"! Ad ogni modo un gran bel pezzo, seguito dal pi incalzante e, se vogliamo, pi "ordinariamente stoner" Overprotected, sorretto da una chitarra ritmica quasi metal e caratterizzato da una voce ultra-filtrata, un po' alla maniera del Electric Wizard. Chiude la sequenza degli Eternal Elysium la chitarra pulita che introduce The Sunpower, il pezzo pi orecchiabile (anche se la parola pu˜ sembrare un pof forzata in un ambito come questo) del lotto, impreziosito dalla dal melodico refrain ed da un break centrale molto leggero e d' atmosfera che riporta la memoria a certe cose dei Pink Floyd (quelli con Gilmour).

Passiamo ora agli Of The Spacistor, gruppo del quale non conosco assolutamente nulla ma che si rivela fin da subito dedito ad un rock alquanto estremo e senza tanti compromessi, improntato su dissonanze e ritmiche spezzate, il tutto condito da una voce a metˆ tra lo sgraziato e lo schizofrenico. Difficile dare una descrizione esauriente dei tre pezzi che hanno proposto in questo split, anche se un lieve accostamento alla scena alternative rock americana di inizio anni 90 pu˜ dare l' idea di che cosa esca dalle loro composizioni: qualcosa alla Sonic Youth, qualcosa forse alla Fugazi... con una certa personalitˆ e mille altre influenze. Il tutto molto particolare comunque e merita un ascolto: spero che abbiate la possibilitˆ di rintracciare questo split (probabilmente di difficile reperibilitˆ), sia per la presenza di un nuovo interessante gruppo, sia (soprattutto) per la presenza di tre pezzi di non indifferenti levatura di quelli che reputo i signori del doom del sol levante: gli Eternal Elisyum!

PsycheDOOMelic.com

Eternal Elysium really is pulling out some serious business with these 3 new cuts which are nothing short of great. Browny Brownie is an 11 minute epic of heavy tuned down goodness, great leads and pounding rhythms. This song is worth the CD's purchase alone. Overprotected and Sunpower are shorter songs, but still a kick in the head as far as great tunes. Thick guitars that remind me of Acid King at times, and great production all the way through. A lot of people that like Share will see that this is a step in a more mature direction for them. They are Sabbath and Maiden influenced all the same, but are really starting to carve their own style. You gotta have this if you are an EE fan for sure.

Of The Spacistor reminds me of more Japanese sounding bands like The Bordoms or Ruins - busy riffs and very Asian sounding guitar sounds as far as choice of notes. This is a bit more hardcore and along the lines of Today is the Day or Dazzling Killmen. Full of energy and full of weird hard soul. They go nicely with the EE stuff as far as being a bit different and offsetting the sound.

	REVIEW section : Split CD w/Of The Spacistor

	Monolith by Pentheus
		"How weird?" I thought just I heard the bluesy slide guitar of "Browny Brownie". What the hell was that!?! The heavier guitar riff I have ever heard from the Gibson of Yukito Okazaki. And just after that the hypnotic voice of his majesty (it sounds like a haunted elf)! This slowness lasts for 5 and a half minutes, before it turns into a hell of groove and solos. The whole song lasts 11 minutes! Boring you said? Not at all buddies! It's just superb!!! One of the top 5 songs of EE. In the point where "Browny Brownie" ends, the second begins. "Overprotected" starts in riffing speed that won't let you breathe. On the contrary it lasts 3.44 minutes. "The Sunpower" is the med-lasting song among the three. At about 5 minutes, not doomy, nor fast, it is just loose... Though I expected to hear something psychedelic and trippy in the vein of Hawkwind, from Of The Spacistor, I met an alternative version of rock, filtrated through the music creativity of different paranoia, which reminded me of Voivod (plus Motorhead) in a heavy rock mixer. Sounds nice, but you'll have to listen to it more than 5 times, in order to classify it. An exact reflection of the band's name... "Parasite Image", "Shadow Grow" and "Daily Wall" are the three tracks from Of The Spacistor in this split. Recorded and mixed at Zen studios, in Nagoya, mastered at Soybean and enginnered by Yukito Okazaki. And what about the artwork? One of the finest! If we have Malleus in Europe and Koznik in USA, now we got Takeru and Yukito (yeah, it's him once again!) in Japan! Reaaally cool! Just grap this cd whenever it can be found! Rate: 11/13
	Stoned Gods by Alex
		From Japan we are happpy to announce this small pearl; we're talking about a split CD where Eternal Elysium get the change to release some new material along with another Japanese band, Of The Spacistor... all this thanks to the label Cornucopia records. The first three songs on the cd are indeed by the rather well known Eternal Elysium, and this is indeed an impressive start for the whole split... Brownie Brownie is a 10 minutes song that shows everyone the band's muscles... the guitars are big, very big (impressive sound), and the songwriting is rather inspired, so that those 10 minutes do not bore you at all... very good! Overprotected is another rather heavy song, with a nice, groovy and traditional riff, and appealing vocals. Once again the sound is fucking impressive, those guitars are gigantic! The following and last song by EE is again very nice, very appealing and with a supercool "chill out" part... very well done Eternal Elysium!!! The remaining 3 tracks, as I said, are played by Of The Spacistor, a band I've never heard of before receiving this split. Well, for sure the band is anything ordinary, so they do score high in the "originality" rating. With Parasite Image things get weird since the beginning... this ain't no stoner, but rather something difficult to label... for sure there is some prog metal here, maybe some typical death guitar lines, some classic rock for sure because some of those riff come from faraway in the past, plus some other stuff I'm too ignorant to know... but what is important is the result, and that is pretty fucking impressive. If you can get past the initial shock, that is. These songs here are astonishing, my favourite one being Daily Wall (perhaps the most ordinary one, but beautiful nonetheless) because they have very good riffs, they are intricate (so there's a lot to listen to) and I absolutely love the vocals. They are quite heavy, too! I want to know more about Of The Spacistor... now I know that in Japan there is more than one super rock band! EE and OTS are great! I am absolutely positive about this split cd, you should get it as soon as you find it! Ratings: Overall rating: 5/5
	StonerRock.com by Rob Wrong
		At first I thought that the title 8 tracks meant that there were 8 cuts or songs on this split CD, but I think that it means that it's an 8 track recording since there are only 6 tracks...3 each? Man, what a tease...hehehe... Well, Eternal Elysium really is pulling out some serious business with these 3 new cuts, I think that America rubbed off on Okazaki a bit. The three cuts that they do are nothing short of great. Browny Brownie is an 11 minute epic of heavy tuned down goodness, great leads and pounding rhythms. This song is worth the CD's purchase alone, and I am not kidding. Overprotected and Sunpower are shorter songs, but still a kick in the head as far as great tunes. Thick guitars that remind me of Acid King at times, and great production all the way through...you gotta have this if you are an EE fan for sure. Of The Spacistor is something I haven't ever heard before and is definitely a bit different than EE. This stuff reminds me of more Japanese sounding bands like The Bordoms or Ruins, busy riffs and very Asian sounding guitar sounds as far as choice of notes. This is a bit more hardcore and along the lines of Today is the Day or Dazzling Killmen. Full of energy and full of weird hard soul...I am certainly glad that I have gotten this chance to check them out, and goes nicely with the EE stuff as far as being a bit different and offsetting the sound. Again, out of the two bands, EE is king on this CD in my eyes; and a lot of people that liked Share will see that this is a step in a more matured direction for them. They are Sabbath and Maiden influenced all the same, but Okazaki and company are really starting to carve their own style, and when I hear this I know who it is straight away without any question of a doubt. Get this one for sure if you own the other two EE albums.
	HellrideMusic.com by Chris Barnes
		It's been a little while since we heard from Japan's Eternal Elysium... their last album, Share, was a powerhouse of 70's influenced doom-edged heavy-psych with more wah than a room full of newborns. They followed that up with a tour of the U.S. with Witch Mountain, culminating in a awe-inspiring performance in Arizona at the Stoner Hands of Doom IV. They came a long way to rock, and rock they did. This is the next chapter in the Eternal Elysium chapter, three stellar songs to tide us over until the next full length. To call these multi-textured is an understatement... "Browny Brownie" starts off with a slow n' low post-Sabbathian riff and maintains the dread to the point of a truly surprising, ultra chunky breakdown that almost sounds like a completely different song. "The Sunpower" is a glorious mid-tempo, distortion-drenched epic with a moody interlude then.... POW!! Another mind-melting melt down and a finish into retro-groove glory. Guitarist/vocalist Yukito Oskazaki is clearly the star of the show, keeping the EE sound true n' blue despite a revolving door of band members. Of the Spacistor is a band I know nothing about, except that they are also from the Land of the Rising Sun and the bass player sounds like a hyperactive Billy Sheehan. Actually, this band isn't too far off from fellow space/metal/rock pioneers Farflung in approach. The use of that...um... Flock of Seagull-ian sounding, spacey guitar coupled with a driving percussive section and a singer that sounds like Jello Biafra with a Japanese accent makes for an interesting listen. I can't pretend to absolutely love it, but it's different and it's got growth potential for discerning rawk palates.
	Stonerrockchick.com by Steve Janiak
		The latest offering from Japan's Eternal Elysium comes in the form of a split cd with fellow Japanese band Of The Spacistor. Featuring three songs from each group, this disc showcases the song craftsmanship and guitar chops of EE guitarist/vocalist Yukito Okazaki, and also introduces Of The Spacistor to Eternal Elysium's worldwide fans. The intro song, Eternal Elysium's "Browny, Brownie" is an eleven minute epic in bluesy doom-inspired madness. It starts with a Clapton-esque blues run that sets a light tone, until the crushing weight of the main riff plows itÕs way into your head. The riff is incredibly thick and wide, and is complemented by some psychedelic bass and drum verses. Okazaki's cosmic wail is both filled with grief and menace, and he intersperses the bass and drum breakdowns with melodic leads and noises. Midway through the molasses of the song, a pause is followed by a stampede of unbridled, angry riffage peppered with tasty melodic solos. Eventually, it returns to the doomy theme set early on, for an extended psyched-out epic jam. "Overprotected", Eternal Elysium's second track, is a midtempo number highlighted by it's memorable melodies, washed out wah action, and a head-turning backwards forwards riff. This cut fits somewhere between Down and early Monster Magnet. The last EE song, "Sunpower", melts the doom a bit with some singable hooks and acoustic interludes, (ala Mammoth Volume) yet it never lets you forget the reason you're listening, the almighty riff. Okazaki writes his songs with a classic doom feel, yet maintains a blues edge and enough psychedelic echoes to show that theyÕve mastered their own niche. If you havenÕt already, go pick up this and all their other albums. Of The Spacistor's first track caught me by surprise. Noisy and chaotic, it wasn't what I expected at all. "Parasite Image" is the kind of song that puts a hefty tension in the back of your neck. The rapid fire drumming and up front bass picking are a great contrast to the sheer agony created by the oversaturated, dissonant guitars and extreme suffering in the screaming-howling of the vocals. (and I mean that in a good way). The second cut, "Shadow Grow", immediately brought to mind the exquisite stress created by the Jesus Lizard, but with David Byrne in the place of David Yow. (or perhaps a cross between the two). By the third song, "Daily Wall", I finally figured out where the band was coming from. The most 'accessible' of the three tracks, "Daily Wall" is less noisy than it's predecessors. With more melody in the guitar department, the song has a more agreeable chorus and a chant ("HEY") towards the end. Still keeping their edge, they come closest to the style of Eternal Elysium on this track. After repeated listens, Of The Spacistor's three songs grow on you like a skin eating bacteria. It's Japanese anguish rock, at it's most cathartic.
	perkele.it by Bokal
		Un breve giro bluesy di introduzione, poi una mazzata doom buia e pesantissima: cos“ si presenta Browny Brownie, il pezzo d' fapertura del nuovo CD con cui si rifanno vivi i Black Sabbath del sol levante, gli Eternal Elysium. Si tratta di uno split CD, condiviso con gli Of The Spacistor per l' fetichetta personale Cornucopia Records. La prima traccia percorre i sentieri giˆ tracciati dal gruppo capitanato da Yukito Okazaki, ovvero un lento incedere su cui la chitarra del leader la fa da padrona, assieme ad una voce molto particolare ed inconfondibile, ad opera dello stesso Yukito; la chitarra si tinge a tratti di accenti blues che la rendono molto interessante, anche se il fantasma di Tony Iommi aleggia in alcuni riff e soprattutto nell' faccelerazione che viene data al pezzo nella parte centrale, in pieno "Sabbath style"! Ad ogni modo un gran bel pezzo, seguito dal pi incalzante e, se vogliamo, pi "ordinariamente stoner" Overprotected, sorretto da una chitarra ritmica quasi metal e caratterizzato da una voce ultra-filtrata, un po' alla maniera del Electric Wizard. Chiude la sequenza degli Eternal Elysium la chitarra pulita che introduce The Sunpower, il pezzo pi orecchiabile (anche se la parola pu˜ sembrare un pof forzata in un ambito come questo) del lotto, impreziosito dalla dal melodico refrain ed da un break centrale molto leggero e d' atmosfera che riporta la memoria a certe cose dei Pink Floyd (quelli con Gilmour). Passiamo ora agli Of The Spacistor, gruppo del quale non conosco assolutamente nulla ma che si rivela fin da subito dedito ad un rock alquanto estremo e senza tanti compromessi, improntato su dissonanze e ritmiche spezzate, il tutto condito da una voce a metˆ tra lo sgraziato e lo schizofrenico. Difficile dare una descrizione esauriente dei tre pezzi che hanno proposto in questo split, anche se un lieve accostamento alla scena alternative rock americana di inizio anni 90 pu˜ dare l' idea di che cosa esca dalle loro composizioni: qualcosa alla Sonic Youth, qualcosa forse alla Fugazi... con una certa personalitˆ e mille altre influenze. Il tutto molto particolare comunque e merita un ascolto: spero che abbiate la possibilitˆ di rintracciare questo split (probabilmente di difficile reperibilitˆ), sia per la presenza di un nuovo interessante gruppo, sia (soprattutto) per la presenza di tre pezzi di non indifferenti levatura di quelli che reputo i signori del doom del sol levante: gli Eternal Elisyum!
	PsycheDOOMelic.com
		Eternal Elysium really is pulling out some serious business with these 3 new cuts which are nothing short of great. Browny Brownie is an 11 minute epic of heavy tuned down goodness, great leads and pounding rhythms. This song is worth the CD's purchase alone. Overprotected and Sunpower are shorter songs, but still a kick in the head as far as great tunes. Thick guitars that remind me of Acid King at times, and great production all the way through. A lot of people that like Share will see that this is a step in a more mature direction for them. They are Sabbath and Maiden influenced all the same, but are really starting to carve their own style. You gotta have this if you are an EE fan for sure. Of The Spacistor reminds me of more Japanese sounding bands like The Bordoms or Ruins - busy riffs and very Asian sounding guitar sounds as far as choice of notes. This is a bit more hardcore and along the lines of Today is the Day or Dazzling Killmen. Full of energy and full of weird hard soul. They go nicely with the EE stuff as far as being a bit different and offsetting the sound.