Genre: Black metal
Origin: Sweden
Released: 2010
Website: Elimi
Label: Eerie Art Records
Uploaded: 14.06.10

When I reviewed Elimi’s debut a couple of years ago I gave it a rather high score, but after hearing this I can’t help but wonder what the hell I was thinking back then. Asylum is such an improvement in every department I can’t seem to justify its predecessor’s score even to myself. Maybe it was just a momentary lapse of weakness, I don’t know…
Withered with time is a great opening track, starting off with a rather effective melody before the song really gets going. And I think melody is a bigger part of their music this time around, moving away from a little more old school crackling sound to a cleaner one. The lead guitar in said track is damn catchy, whipping out a cold and harsh melodic line, which in addition to the fast tempo gets me thinking of some of Sweden’s greats back in the 90ies. Vargavinter is a name that frequently comes to mind, just like older Thy Primordial, Setherial and Sorhin. But they never really go full blast, thus remain within a rather sane fast pace, slowing things down every once in a while for a somewhat punkish/thrashing drum vibe and more prominent guitar play. Unfortunately the bass seem to just follow the guitar, almost constantly, which is a damn shame. For a moment in Don’t speak, when the bass is given an opportunity to shine, it really adds a wickedly schizoid pummel to the music.
Vocally it’s a fairly gnarly and ‘grim’ scream, reminding me of a mixture of old Norwegian vocals and a more modern Eastern European style. It’s pretty cool, and the slight variations makes it very effective. There’s not really anything to complain about production-wise; it’s neither here nor there. But one thing I feel compelled to actually complain about is the murky print – you can hardly make out the track titles, and the artwork doesn’t make sense to me since it’s so damn dark. But nonetheless this is such a step in the right direction, delivering melodies that doesn’t lose track of the genre’s harsh roots.

Tracklist:
01. Withered with time
02. Don’t speak
03. Like sulphur
04. Revenge
05. A light
06. Alive, dead