As a band, Eliminator have been around for about ten years but this is only their second full length album, following after 2018 ‘Last Horizon’.
They clearly have Iron Maiden as an influence (no bad thing) but ‘Ancient Light’ has a very strong identity in a powerful sound, great vocals from Danny Foster, massive drums courtesy of Dave Steen and excellent twin guitars from Jack MacMichael (lead) and Matthew Thomas (rhythm). Jamie Brandon supplies the strong yet fluid bass.
As a fan of ‘proper’ heavy metal, I was really pleased to hear them going all out to deliver an album that really represents their strength and not disappearing into the ‘melodic metal’ hole that seems to grab so many bands today. Not to say that there isn’t melody or tunefulness in Eliminator’s songs but they couple those things with raw power to make an album that really aims for scorching riffery and searing vocals.
Inevitably, it is a quasi-concept album where the songs form a story but the tracks can still be listened to on their own merits and while I listened straight through a few times I still picked on a few specific tracks – ‘Goddess Of Life’ has a great riff while the more subtle and complex ‘Foreverless’ was the track I went back to more than a few times.
All around, it is an excellent album and considering the difficulties in making albums in the last couple of years, quite a feat.
