Artist description Epic and melancholy Doom metal..

Music Style Doom Metal / Gothic Metal

Artist History Elysium were formed in September 1994 by Stuart Prickett (vocals/ guitar) and Beau Dyer (drums) through a mutual love of doom metal. They were soon joined by Robert Vickery (bass/ vocals) and played their first gig in November '94. The next few months were spent writing new songs and rehearsing. In February 1995 the band were joined by Hamish Gould on keyboards, at which time Beau decided to leave to concentrate on his other band, Across The Scarlet Moat. A new drummer was quickly found in Roy Fratin and with this line up Elysium started to gig regularly. In August '95 the band released a rehearsal promo, which was shortly followed in October '95 by their debut demo, consisting of 6 epic death/ doom songs. The band gigged constantly in support of the release, which sold strongly throughout the underground and at the same time receiving great reviews, before picking up a fifth member, Steve Pettit (guitar) who filled out the live sound. Due to personal problems within the band Roy was asked to leave and a new drummer was found in Goran, but in June '96 the band split in two, leaving only Stuart and Hamish to continue the band. One day after the split the band acquired Guy Moore on second keyboards with Beau rejoining the band as bassist. The band were also joined by a full time vocalist, Jamie Marsh (of Lord Kaos fame) but the band still had trouble finding a suitable drummer and second guitarist. Things didn't really work out with two keyboard players so Guy departed and the band continued to work on new material. Eventually in August a new drummer was found in Lachlan Donaldson. With the band stronger than ever a second demo was recorded, entitled "Shrouded In The Veils of Dawn" in November '96. In July 1997 the band found a new guitarist in Andrew Habib and in December of the same year Niel Dryer replaced Lachlan who had moved to England to work. Elysium continued to play a handful of well received gigs including the support slot to Cathedral at their Sydney show in 1999 which was followed up with their first interstate show in Adelaide. Elysium finally completed their first full release, "Dreamscapes", which was due to come out on Warhead Records. But when this fell through De Profundis were quick to pick up the band to release the debut record, which was agreed to be limited to 2000 copies worldwide. "Dreamscapes" contains seven songs of epic doom metal with enchanting female vocals provided by guest vocalist Judy Chiara (Avrigus).

Group Members Jamie Marsh: Vocals Stuart Prickett: Guitars Andrew Habib: Guitars Hamish Gould: Keyboards Beau Dyer: Bass Neil Dyer: Drums

Albums "Dreamscapes"

Press Reviews From Necrozine (AU) #2 As is the case with Australian bands for some reason, this CD has been delayed an aeon. Despite this its impact upon me is none the less quelled. From the start, epically slow, doom-begotten riffs and excellent, melancholy guitar melodies spiral downward into a sorrowful dirge, equally like true doom forefathers such as Evoken, Ras Algethi or The Yearning. Symphonic keyboard chords rise mournfully from beneath the guitars, whilst the prominent and interesting bass lines lament an equally depressing distain. It is excellent to hear some more true, slow doom around and "Dreamscapes" is awesome. Slow, epic sections plunge into heavier and more intense moments where insatiable double bass drives the music deeper into dark emotions; then it lulls to serenity or brooding, clean guitar and twin guitar melodies with ease. Jamie's growls are roared forth with passion and also emotion in the occasional echoing clean moment. Additionally Julie of Avrigus lends her dark vocal talents briefly within sections of 4 tracks including, "Dark Woods & Willows Wild" as well as "These Bleak Enshrined Emotions" and "Remorse At Dusk". As a whole my only qualm would be the sometimes overly electronic sounding drum production, however this is not too distracting for the album has a great mood and is richly rewarding in all its sorrow being doomed to an otherwise excellent production. "Dreamscapes" seems a befitting title also, for it lends to the music very effectively as the songs convey majestically, sublime visual imagery of rambling, dark and mysterious, romantic places. Elysium is another killer Aussie doom band that will call to the graven heart of any woeful doom fanatic! This album weeps! From Ancient Ceremonies Mag Issue 8 How many underground albums do you know that are little precious gems but are mostly unknown to everyone? Elysium with "Dreamscapes" has one of those albums that will fill the hearts of any fan of Doom Metal (some Death Metal due to the slight guttural vocal attack by Jamie Marsh), the problem is that probably no one knows about it. Gladly, Mark of De Produndis contacted us and we had the privilege of getting a promotional copy of it. For many the name Elysium might remember a band from Sweden which was featured in these pages a few issues ago but the fact is that there is another band (oh dear...) with the same name from Australia that after a few line-up problems managed to release its debut album through an Australian label. "Dreamscapes" is all about emotions and to fully understand the music you will need to relax in your couch in order to absorb every note, every chant, both male and female (by Judy of Avrigus as guest vocalist), every riff, every melody. For many of you when the two simple words Doom Metal come to mind, a vision of delayed riffs, depressive vocal attacks, thundering bass... but the truth is that even wandering in the realms of Doom Metal, Elysium managed to compose an album in which the dark emotions are not overused by the same guitar riff, by monotonous vocals or by depressive keyboard lines. "Dreamscapes" is an album which delivers efficiently the dark feeling in a very gentle and almost orchestral way, in which the person who is listening to it, sometimes, does not have the total conscious that he/she is entering in a beautiful kingdom of greys. A highly recommended debut!! Nuno Santos (4 / 5) From LOUD! (AU) #27 Like far too many releases that come my way, this album is well overdue. It's so often the curse of the underground, self-funded recording. Labels can fold, key members can split, or there's simply no bucks around or no one willing to take it up. Elysium has been around forever and their past is somewhat chequered, but it's great to see that whatever hurdles existed to keep this on the shelf for so long have finally been cleared away, allowing Dreamscapes to unfold its visions of darkness and melancholy at last. With a mere seven tracks sprawling across almost an hour, expect nothing less from this Sydney band than slow and epic doom of massive proportions! The enormous "Darkwoods and Willows Wild" stumbles into the picture with its grandiose style and ponderous pace, epitomising Elysium's chosen Muse from the very start: a surging, recurring keyboard theme, the slow crash of guitars and drums, Jamie Marsh's cold and grim vocals and the delicate contrast of Avrigus singer Judy Chiara's soaring operatics. Elysium are not merely content with plodding their way through their album endlessly repeating the same formula, however. Long, meandering and slow though it is, Dreamscapes is by no means a turgid experience. Each of the seven tracks here are injected with their own individuality, expansive and almost orchestral in their structure. At times almost painfully slow, Elysium step up occasionally to a menacing mid-pace, and mix in dark, spoken passages and multi-layered clean guitar sections where even the bass, usually the most inconspicuous of instruments, is clearly defined and Chiara's peerless vocals are a stunning contrast to Marsh's evocative, chameleon-like vocals. Dreamscapes is a huge and infinitely majestic album which will be embraced by lovers of true doom wherever it is heard. From Primal Agony Webzine Unfortunately true Doom Metal bands is something Australia has never produced enough of, so it sure was a pleasant surprise when I got this. This is epic Doom Metal of huge proportions at it's finest, with just a touch of Death Metal in places. These Sydney guys give almost an hour of sorrowful, bleak yet bloody good quality Doom with the dark and gloomy vocals of Jamie Marsh crossing paths with the guest female vocals of Judy Chiara of AVRIGUS on several of the seven tracks. This interaction just adds more dimensions to the album. As you would expect these songs are extremely heavy and generally slow overall but at no time does the general lack of speed of these songs detract from the overall magnitude of the album. The underlying keyboard sound fills out the sound leaving room for some big guitar chords, none more noticeable than on the opening track 'Dark Woods And Willows Wild", an absolute monster of Doom. From that point on the tone is set for the album with 'Graven Bay' continuing their depressive heavy plodding path. 'Elysium (Gallery Of The Fallen)' is quite up tempo and a bit of a riff fest before they head back to some more bleak and wonderful moments. One of those comes in probably one of my favourite tracks 'Remorse At Dark'. From the mellow guitar intro to the darkly spoken lyrics, the simple yet heavy guitar riffs topped off with the angelic vocals of Judy Chiara it has it all. If you are looking for an excellent album of Aussie Doom then this is one album that should be at the top of your list. "Dreamscapes' available for only $20AUS/$13US (incl p&p) directly from De Profundis Records. By.. Ian Busch MORE REVIEWS SHORTLY..

Location Sydney, NSW - Australia

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