Elusive God - Ambis

Elusive God is a doom metal band from Croatia, who formed in 2018.  Their latest album, “Ambis,” is their second full-length album; they have also released an EP and a live album. 

I’ve been a fan of Elusive God for a while now but never had a chance to review them before now.  I’m honored to be able to say a few humble words about them because “Ambis” is a fantastic album that truly captures what doom metal is. 

Their sound is more along the traditional format, meaning it isn’t an extreme form like death or funeral doom.  With that being said, they have always been heavy as hell and this album is not an exception—not that I expected it to be. 

“Ambis,” embraces a much darker sound than most other bands under the large banner of traditional doom.   It’s heavy on both occult and Gothic elements—-although the production is fantastic and near perfect, the album does sound raw in a way that it uses atmosphere as much as it does crushing riffs and throbbing bass. 

Singing in their native tongue adds an air of mystery to the songs—and makes that occult vibe I spoke of earlier really stand out.  Although I can’t understand a word, I can definitely feel the tones and emotions emanating from the words. 

According to their press release, there is an underlying story that connects all the lyrics on “Ambis,” together: personal transformation offering a great sense of grandiosity and epicness towards the end.  

Those ideas are not only reflected in the lyrics but also in the music:  this is indeed doom on an epic scale and it gets bigger and more expansive as the album moves along.  It has 7 songs across a runtime of just over 40 minutes—the perfect length for this style!

The album begins immediately with big riffs and strong bass among crashing drums with the opening song, “Kob.”  The deep, Gothic croon of vocalist/guitarist Shadow hits like a towering specter of pure emotive power.  This song, and the album as a whole, is slow to mid paced but isn’t afraid to inject bursts of speed and passages of rousing energy.  Doom is cold as a grave but it doesn’t have to be as dead as the body buried underneath!

“Vrata vjecnosti,” is loaded with fantastic riffs but bassist Beast and drummer Devil are just as integral to the sound—three guys in this band but they make a lot of great noise.  The lyrics are particularly potent against the slow dredging of riffs and powerful snare hits.  The song has a theatrical feel to it, like some kind of macabre horror presenting itself before the stage.  I really like the guitar solo too, it feels like a story within a story even while complimenting the entire song.

“Ples demona,” is one of the best songs on the album—it’s urgent, monolithic and a straight up banger.  Devil really gives it his all, complimenting each note while doing what he does best.  And how about that bass?  Beast sounds like, well, a beast.  Shadow sings his ass off too while throwing in a col twist with the guitar around the halfway mark, sounding different than what most doomers can pull off. The last minute and a half or so is utterly fantastic:  the band jams out like it's the end of the world.  Truly a magical moment!

“Iz tame i pepela,” throws in another twist with a blues like intro that leads into a batch of riffs with sinister tones and razor sharp edges.  This is perhaps the darkest and most intense song on the album--shows off the power of this trio and the genre itself.  

There has been a TON of non-extreme doom released this year but few can come close to matching the power of Elusive God’s “Ambis.”  Fans of old school doom who like it obscure and dirty will definitely want to get this. 

Rating:  Great