ELM STREET
ELM STREET “The Great Tribulation”
By Iron Sheik
Australian outfit ELM STREET return with album number three, “The Great Tribulation”. Hailed as a tradional-flavored heavy metal band they will appeal to fans of bands like JUDAS PRIEST, SAVATAGE, and HELLOWEEN. They are comprised of Ben Batres on vocals and rhythm guitar, Aaron Adie on Lead Guitar, Nick Ivkovic on Bass, and Tomislav Perkovic on Drums.
ELM STREET is a tight band with an excellent sound. Aaron Adie's guitar work and soloing throughout is at times otherworldly and is complimented by an intense bottom end. What doesn't work well for the band is Ben's vocals. His vocals would possibly work better if they played a faster and little bit more aggressive style of heavy metal. Ben has a rough raspy vocal style which might be more in line with that of a RAGE or DESTRUCTION style of music or an even more gravelly Jon Oliva. His vocals do not suit the New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal style the band does play. I tried to listen and like “The Great Tribulation” and ELM STREET, but Ben's vocals spoiled it. Musically the band are great with excellent production, and they would maybe make the big leagues with a different vocalist more suited to their style of heavy metal.
Opener “Seven Sirens” stretches out to just over eleven minutes making it the longest track on the album. With piano mixed with acoustic guitar work one expects some serious SAVATAGE worship. Expectations get lowered considerably once Ben begins singing. His voice is too raspy to pull off the SAVATAGE comparisons to good effect. As the album progresses through it's eight tracks though not much stands out, and the piano is not used again until later in the album. Standouts, with one of the best solos is “Price Of War”, and “The Last Judgement” which is an instrumental. “If Provoked, Will Strike” is the weakest track, but it has an acoustic outro reminiscent of “Heaven And Hell”'s. Closing song “A State Of Fear” is the second longest track. It builds and builds, but it ultimately goes nowhere.
In the end, “The Great Tribulation” by ELM STREET is a somewhat enjoyable musical journey but vocally not so much. As much as I thought this album would be great based on my judgement style criteria...cool name for a band, great artwork, and cool sounding song titles... it was not. Disappointment reigns supreme due to poor vocals, and it will end placed upon the pile of forgotten albums.