Customer Reviews

Catharsis (Deluxe Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is hard to believe that it has been three years since the sudden passing of Elis' frontwoman Sabine Dunser. I thought finding a suitable replacement would be a difficult task and this singer would not be able to fill Sabine's shoes. My concerns were unfounded when the band found Sandra Schleret. As a sample of what to come, the band released Show me the Way EP last year which featured the final records of Sabine with the band and "Show Me the Way" with Sandra on vocals. I was impressed and I wanted to hear more. The band finally answered my yearning for a full length album with Sandra aptly titled Catharsis. The album is appropriately dedicated to their fallen singer Sabine.

One of my concerns with the album was Sandra's vocals. I felt she sounded awfully lot like Sabine. Much to my delight, Sandra's vocals on Catharsis is much her own. While I can certainly hear a vague resemblence to Sabine's delicate vocals, Sandra is definitely a force to reckon with in the metal scene. Her vocals are much more upfront and stronger than I expected. For once, I did not mind bassist Tom Saxer's vocals as I used to in the past. I enjoyed all eleven tracks. I particularly enjoyed "Core of Life" and "Come Undone". I loved the melodies on those songs and Sandra's vocals. I enjoyed all eleven tracks on the album. I think this is the strongest album by the gothic metal band to date. The melodies are more memorable than on the previous albums. There is less repetition in my book which in the past always dragged down the band's albums. I won't say which women are better singers, both Sabine and Sandra were and are terrific singers whose voices meshes well with the aggressive guitar riffs and thunderous rhythm section. Catharsis is definitely going to be on my best of 2009 list.

This is my first Elis album. Quite honestly this is one of the more refreshing metal albums I've picked up recently. Last purchases being Epica's Design Your Universe, Krypteria's Liberatio and In In Medias Res, as well as Avantasia's The Scarecrow.

This album features some pretty darn amazing vocals and some of the most interesting song craft I've heard in some time. I'm reminded strongly of Sirenia's more recent albums with solid vocals, and some heavy and creative guitar work.

More of a metal romp than the symphonic heavy Epica genre so if you're after more full symphony metal this isn't your strongest candidate. All in all a great album to pick up for the collection.

As you may all know this is the first Elis cd with their new vocalist Sandra Schleret, she may not be the same as Sabine Dünser(RIP), but she fits in well with the band. Anyone whose into Gothic Metal, this is an enjoyable cd.

The title of this album describes its contents perfectly. The whole spirit of the music within catches a band emerging with such power and energy whilst embracing their difficult past. Sandra provides wonderful vocals and certainly helps make this album such a joy to listen to. This plus their first album (God's Silence, Devil's Temptation) are my favorite two from this band, but all the others are really good too. I just love the energy that comes across in this album; powerful and beautiful at the same time, with just the kind of guitar work that I really enjoy.

I'm so glad to see Elis continue to grow as a band. This album is an absolute favorite in my collection.

It is very nice to have Sandra Schleret fronting for Elis. Her previous band, Dreams of Sanity, produced three of what are, in my opinion, the very best progressive metal albums ever made. This offering from Elis quite honestly does not measure up to any of those but it is worthy in its own right.

First, I would like to say that I have enjoyed the music of Elis for years now. Sabine (RIP) had a beautiful voice and it is a tragedy that she died so young. Having said that, I like this new singer's voice even more than Sabine's. The music has become more involved and evolved. Any way you look at it, this is a very good album.

"Elis" is a good example of another European female-fronted goth (symphonic) metal - from Liechtenstein this time. Born in 2003 as a brainchild of Sabine Duenser (1977-2006) and Pete Streit, it found its niche in the second league of metal - the music was competent, but not exceptional, so was (is) the voice - the singing of Sandra Schleret (who replaced Sabine Duenser) is melodic and pleasant, but lacks the power of Tarja Turunen.
The new album of "Elis" is produced by Alex Krull, who inevitably tried hard to kill the album with his mindless growling and grunting, and almost succeed. "Catharsis" was nearly sacrificed for the sake of Mr Krull's past fame ("Theatre of Tragedy" and "Leave's Eyes", but was saved last moment by few really nice tracks - "Warrior's Tale" and "Rainbow", for example.
Still it's a pleasant album, albeit not an innovative one (to talk about a distictive style is either an ignorance, or a great exageration, which is a pity - because I like the band very much. Apart from everything, the artwork has a lot of taste, and the Website is decent.
If at the next attempt the band wouldn't touch Herr Krull with the barge pole (there is no lack of talented producers in Germany - I would have prefered Waldemar Sorychta -Faith ), and the sound engineer will erase at any costs the sounds of a male suffering from constipation (so-called "backing vocals"), it has very strong chances to move higher.