I first ran across Elitist in my metal infancy, a manifestation of my metalcore and djent pursuits. While largely falling off the good djent train since 2010’s fantastic EP Caves, they offered some of the bounciest and most polyrhythmic riffs since… Wait, wrong Elitist? Oh right, the other Elitist, who propagated the filthiest blackened sludge on the West Coast. Debut Fear in a Handful of Dust was truly a force to be reckoned with, featuring audible filth in ferocious vocals and megaton riffs, with… Oh, that Elitist broke up? Ugh, I don’t know who we’re dealing with. I guess the true Mirage of Grandeur is the number of bands called Elitist I thought I knew. But hey, maybe my bold claims about how good this death metal album is will reestablish my credibility.
This particular Elitist is a four-piece from Copenhagen, its lineup consisting of bassist/vocalist Thomas Fischer of death metal acts Dysgnostic and Apparatus, paired with grind collective Piss Vortex members guitarist/vocalist Simon Stenbæk Christensen (also of psych-rock act Redwolves), guitarist Rasmus Moesby Sørensen (also of powerviolence bruisers UxDxS) and drummer Niclas Sauffaus. Elitist’s debut A Mirage of Grandeur incorporates the grind velocity without being called “deathgrind,” with elements of dissonance, noise, and blackened death, for something that is indisputably death metal and unquestionably punishing – influences of death metal’s storied history in Death, Pyrrhon, Carcass, and Cattle Decapitation come to mind. Elitist weaponizes this palette for an album thematically the elitists of our time, those “utterly convinced of their own magnificence and therefore have nothing to spare for the undeserving.” Punishing riffs, rabid percussion, fluid basswork, and a vocal performance from hell collide with sticky earworms that bury into your bones, making it commentary as memorable as it is vicious.
In many ways, the Piss Vortex speed is grounded by Fischer’s Dysgnostic habits: A Mirage of Grandeur offers the grime. Straight-up death metal goodness in openers “Propagating Suffering” and “Vacuous Magnificence,” lean into a balanced attack between riff and speed, grounded by moments of mammoth intensity. The grind influence drives the unhinged attacks of songs like “Funneled into Oblivion” and “False Lives,” the latter’s concluding passage a highlight of insane proportions. The start-stop, the break, then the rabid shriek over blasting will haunt you for days. Elsewhere, Elitist is unafraid to embrace the death metal filth. Tracks like “Deluded Fallacies Spew from Rancid Mouths” and “Ahistorical Pride” offer a bleak dissonant melodic structure that eats away at the ears with each iteration alongside filthy riffs. Speaking of dissonance, the album features far more unfriendliness as the album goes on, dissonant leads like acid to the slimy conclusion of “Sustaining Collapse” or overthrowing the punchy riffs in closer “Onslaught of Irrelevance.” The mix, while filthy and monumental, balances speed and punch to a lethal degree, further highlighted by Fischer’s bass noodling in “Propagating Suffering” and “Deluded Fallacies…” and a sharp percussion that cuts through the thickness.
While Elitist’s style rides a tidy line between deathgrind, dissodeath, and purist death metal, it can be seen as a lack of commitment. As such, while “Deluded Fallacies Spewed from Rancid Mouths” and onward features a successively more slimy sound and prominent dissonance, openers “Propagating Suffering” and “Vacuous Magnificence” can feel like misdirects due to their relatively straightforward death metal attack. “Deluded Fallacies…” and “Ahistorical Pride,” especially the former, slow the tempos down dramatically following the vicious tracks “Vacuous Magnificence” and “Funneled Into Oblivion,” respectively. Even while they are extremely solid and show another side of Elitist, the album momentum squeals to a crawl jarringly, disrupting the flow. Ultimately, although tracks like “Sustaining Collapse” are a bit forgettable, every song is impeccably composed and executed, and the issues that pervade the debut are a matter of album flow.
This particular Elitist has released a wicked good debut. While the album flow isn’t bulletproof and the experimental edge can get overbearing, you won’t care because you’ll be bobbing your head for days. Featuring a lineup that is more than the sum of its parts while still faithful to its origins, A Mirage of Grandeur is a punishing ride with a worthy message and a fistful of lightning that will only get honed for the years to come.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Indisciplinarian Records
Website: facebook.com/elitistdeath
Releases Worldwide: November 17th, 2023
