Elkapath – The Twisted Jester EP
Elkapath – The Twisted Jester EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 31/08/24
Running Time: 24:34
Review by Dark Juan
7/10
Having spent a morning being dictated to by Mrs Dark Juan (not that she is a dictator normally, just that I can type faster than her and make Microsoft Word work, whereas her Luddite electronic warfare field will just fry my poor pooter as soon as she sits in front of it. She really needs to be behind a team of oxen ploughing a field or something) as she is exhibiting at the Inverarity Gallery in Scotland and she needed to write about four pieces which she is contributing, Dark Juan has decided that he has had enough of doing stuff for other people for a bit and decided that he will listen to some music instead.
And then write words about it for other people, being the band and the vast readership I don’t have. What a silly sausage I am.
It is time to once more trawl the Metal underbelly of these Sceptred Isles of the United Kingdom and to pluck a British band out of it at random and wax lyrical for a bit. Today’s subjects/ victims/ unfortunates are Gloucester’s Elkapath, having been formed when lead vocalist Carla was a mere stripling of 18, recording her music and vocals in her bedroom. Elkapath have only become a fully-fledged band rather than a solo project in the past few years. Let us release the Platter of Splatter ™ from its confinement (it’s for everyone’s safety. No one wants the Platter of Splatter ™ on a rampage) and place “The Twisted Jester” reverently upon it, lest the fucker bites me like it did last time.
“The Twisted Jester” is a six track EP and is billed as Synth Gothic Metal. Dark Juan considers this accurate, as it has everything Gothic Metal requires – winsome, ethereal female vocals, a tempo that rarely raises itself about relaxed, slow and massive riffs and an atmosphere of dark and intrusive thoughts. This is all very good, and has been done about a million times before, so what do Elkapath bring to the party that is different than say, Lacuna Coil, or Evanescence?
That difference is modernity and a willingness to take the basic chassis of Gothic Metal and weld inventive and interesting contemporary synth work to it, as well as (on ‘No Bride’) swapping out miserable, Mogadon-slow choruses for something that is almost… uplifting.
Carla’s vocal style is also pretty unique – all unusual intonation and a delivery that is surprisingly nasal and calls the likes of Mike Patton of all people to the imagination of this scribe. It fits the music surprisingly well and offers a blank-eyed, soul-dead quality which is only animated when it is solving an imagined problem (‘Love, Forgiveness’ and ‘No Bride’) when it suddenly crashes out of misery and launches into vibrant and exciting animation. She is able to emote effectively and adds colour and shade to the music, pouring heart and blood into some pretty solid Metal.
I did mention that the synth work is what lifts this EP above its peers in the Gothic Metal genre – not just mournful cellos and church organs are the order of the day here. Oh no. Although those elements are there at times, on the likes of ‘Fakery’ the synth work is pointy and lethal and owes more to Aggrotech and Electronic Industrial than Gothic wankery. This is also very true on EP closer ‘Show Me’, which plunges up to its beautiful neck into full on Synthwave influence – this song in particular could work just as effectively without the guitars as with them, which is a novel thought, as they are effective and very Germanically precise, nodding as they do towards a touch of the Neue Deutsche Härte.
Ah. Eureka moment! THAT’S what Elkapath sound like!
Elkapath sound like an Industrial band playing Gothic Metal. I have been racking my brains trying to think of a way to describe their sound. I am not being objectionable here – the precision of the guitar work reminds Dark Juan very much of the likes of Eisbrecher and OOMPH! on ‘Fight or Flight’ as does the shouty chorus, the synth work being atmospheric and rather acting as a lead instrument rather than being consigned to the back of the mix and left there to provide the odd whoosh. Add to this the unusual delivery of Carla, and you have something that sounds rather different to the Gothic Metal you might have been imagining. It has a rather harder edge than the likes of Lacuna Coil and is much heavier, with blastbeats being incorporated into the music in a way that the likes of Within temptation or the Italian meisters and mistress would never do.
The electronics on this record are awesome. They bring in elements from Nu-Metal, Synthwave, Trap Metal and Industrial and they are what lift Elkapath’s music from fun but fairly generic Gothic Metal to something special. Yes, they do conform to standard Gothic tropes in parts (the intro to ‘No Bride’, for example) but they are playful and rarely remain predictable for long. The production on the EP is also excellent but the mix is a bit lifeless in places, generally on the slower, more introspective moments on the EP, but in general it gives the listener’s brainspace a good, judicious bludgeoning with a bottom end that has more weight than the keel of the USS Nimitz when your mother is on board.
To sum up then – Elkapath have released a very good EP that blends the best of Gothic Metal with a strong idiosyncratic edge, and I have enjoyed the fuck out of this six-track offering. Time to hand over to the Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System…
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System awards Elkapath 7/10 for an EP that is enjoyable yet flawed. There is so much promise in this band though, and they are one of the best bands on the UK scene, but they require a bit more polish. They are only a gnat’s wing away from greatness, though.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Fight or Flight
02. Sacrifice
03. No Bride
04. Love, Forgiveness
05. Fakery
06. Show Me
LINE-UP:
Carla Elkapath – Vocals
Chris Horwood-Jones- Drums
Joshua Gordon- Lead Guitar
Simon Steele – Rhythm Guitar
Ross Whitaker- Bass
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
