Elusory-Wide Asleep

Self-Release/Independent
2015

Formed in 2012 by musicians David Morgan (Guitars, Bass and Drums) and Anthony "Ant" Casaletto (Guitars and Bass ), Elusory is a up-and-coming HEAVY metal band that began life as a side-project before evolving into the gnarly creature that stands before us now. Lead vocalist Mike Wells rounds things out for this MI / NC-based band which for some reason has been misdiagnosed as a Progressive Rock/Metal project (more of that in a second). The forthcoming "Wide Asleep" is Elusory's full-length debut and this 45 minute album is schedule to drop on July 7th. With a total of 11 tracks in all, "Wide Asleep" opens fiercely by way of the hard-hitting "Haunted" and right from the start I found myself confused by this trio's email address of Elusory Rocks and the whole Progressive Rock/Metal tag. Now, don't get me wrong here. Elusory is a progressive-minded band and to that end you're quite likely to pick up on similarly-themed influences. Or if you will bands that end up raging from Dream Theater to Watchtower. But to call this band a "rock/metal" outfit is a great disservice to the extreme nature of this music. And by extreme I mean EXTREME! These guys simply DESTROY everything in sight and it all starts with Elusory's maniacal front-man!! Harsh and clean vocals set the stage aflame before the pair of Morgan &; Casaletto come along to blow the whole building down! Who am I kidding? They blow the whole BLOCK down!!!! Reference-wise I would throw  out other names like Meshuggah, Cynic and even Killswitch Engage and CD Baby isn't exactly far off with the Machine Head recommendation. Even so Elusory does their own thing and Dammit Janet(!) they sure do make it sound easy! Armed with complex riffs and drop-dead righteous grooves this three-piece band is fully-capable of doing the old stop-start thing as well as anyone, but these guys make metalcore sound relevant and even hip. Along with the metalcore, progressive elements and extreme metal you'll hear pieces/parts of melodic metal, speed, thrash, and death metal, but the most impressive additions here would be jazz and fusion! Like Atheist and Cynic did before them, Elusory adds interesting flavors to sound in order to creatively push themselves as far as possible. While nowhere near as prominent as it is the aforementioned bands these jazz elements are there nonetheless and that ends up making "Wide Asleep" an even more enjoyable venture (if that was actual possible!). With intelligent and memorable lyrics that match the complex and expertly-executed music within, "Wide Asleep" is a hell of a debut album for this new band and one that I enthusiastically recommend! For more information about Elusory be sure to head here and make sure to keep an eye out for "Wide Asleep" as this CD is not to be missed!