The name Unearthed Elf deceived me somewhat. Tagged as a power metal album, the name inspired thoughts of the early material from Teutonic genre heavyweights Blind Guardian; fast, melodic but with an abrasive touch; speed metal rich in grandeur. What Into the Catacomb Abyss offers is a different proposition; a suite of deliberately paced heavy metal with a mysterious, seductive allure. Possessing an ambience typical of your more understated horror flick, the record does Hammer without ever being hammy.
Unearthed Elf’s music lies somewhere between traditional metal and doom metal, with a healthy dose of gothic aura spicing things up. A good chunk of the album is made up of heavy, mid paced riff monsters, packing a major punch thanks to the thick, muscular guitar tone. Whilst these riffs are certainly effective, there is a repetitive nature to this approach, with many of the guitar lines feeling like slight alterations of each other. However, often the riffs are part of a broader soundscape, and in that regard, this repetition is a bit more forgivable. One of the strongest aspects of the album is the vocal performance from Keith D (who handles singing and all instrumental duties). Whilst his range is rather limited, his voice has lots of character and melodrama to make up for the lack of technical flair, which greatly adds to mood.
As for the songs themselves, there’s a fair few on offer to enjoy. Opener “Into the Catacomb Abyss” has quite an apt name, as the shifting tempos in the intro draw you into the crushing darkness beyond. “Never See the Sun” has a more driven, gothic air to it, with the first of many effective layered backing vocal sections put to use well on the chorus. The backing vocals are one of the key components of the atmospheric backbone of the record, with the diverse cast including serene female voices, Gregorian style choirs and even the odd black metal shriek. This sort of divergence from the established norm (if Unearthed Elf has a norm) is where the record gets most interesting. The slow, doom/death stylings of “Eternal Night” has a melancholic melody weeping over acoustic accompaniment; ending with a beautiful lead seamlessly morphing into a brief tapping passage, a rare exhibition of Keith’s fretboard skills. “Lighting the Mummy on Fire” has a predictable, yet subtle, Egyptian flavour; an epic, majestic doom mammoth that invokes the horror spirit that Unearthed Elf is aiming for. The best is saved for last with the breathtaking “A Forest of Gravestones”, an accessible, Type O style number that revels in despair like a ray of light in ever encroaching darkness. It’s one of those songs that just feels like a closer, and is comfortably the best track here.
Although this isn’t a great album, it’s still a solid effort with a lot of good music to be heard. If another album ever surfaces from Unearthed Elf, you’d hope that mainman Keith will take a few more chances, as that is when Into the Catacomb Abyss is at its most exciting. All in all, a record that heavy/doom fans would do well to unearth.
Rating: 7/10 – “a flawed, doomy treasure that will likely please fans of the genre”
Highlights: “Eternal Night”, “Lighting the Mummy on Fire”, “A Forest of Gravestones”
Band links: Facebook, Official Website, Bandcamp
