ELKAPATH: “Black Spiders” (31 October 2021, Symmetric Records)

Elkapath is newly formed band from United Kingdom that recently recorded their debut album, “Black Spiders”, which is to be released on Halloween (October 31st ). The album consists of 10 songs, “Creepy Little Dolls”, “Twisted Issues”, “Black Spiders”, “Synthetic Ecstasy”, “Dirty Whore Mouth”, “Shields of Protection”, “Work Sucks”, “Underworld”, “Zombie Girl” and “The Bigger the Better”.

The first thing that is getting noticed in every album is the cover, so let’s speak a little bit about it. The “Black Spiders” comes with a strong gothic aesthetic, painted in black and purple, fitting for the genre that the band represents. The devil’s doll image is portrayed with a gothic twist, while the small dolls beneath her remind of the Korn’s album “Issues”.  Of course, there had to be some black spiders to complete the dark and spooky imaging that works just fine with the musical content of the record.

And just like their cover, the sound of Elkapath can be visualized with the colors chosen on the artwork. Drawing inspiration from the gothic scene, they present a sound with various elements from different music genres. Bands like The Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails and Korn are some of the main musical influences that assisted in the shaping of Elkapath’s music.

The musical diversity of the “Black Spiders” becomes visible after a couple of songs into the album. For example, the opening track of the record, “Creepy Little Dolls”, has a horror punk vibe that reminds of bands like the Misfits while in the “Black Spiders” there are some black metal passages in the riffs that give a sinister tone to the song. The “Synthetic Ecstasy”, the fourth track of the album, is heavily inspired by the electronic music with a big part of the song to be based around synths. In the “Dirty Whore Mouth”, Elkapath offer their personal gothic take on the nu metal sound. There is also the personal favorite, “Shields of Protection”, with the beautiful folkish melody that blends with the general gothic aesthetic of the album. 

Unfortunately, the use of the aggressive, torn, black metal like screams rings badly to the ear. The idea is fitting as a concept however the execution is not quite right and always seems off from the rest of the song.

All in all, the “Black Spiders” is a decent debut for the Elkapath, with good ideas and inspiration that shows an appetite for musical experimentation. 

www.elkapath.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/elkapath

https://www.instagram.com/elkapath

https://www.youtube.com/c/elkapath

https://twitter.com/elkapathm

https://elkapath.bandcamp.com

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