Rating: 8.1

Country: Australia

Release Date: 2004

Record Label: Grindhead Records

Track list:
1. Blood Tapped Skull [MP3]
2. Elevation into Disintegration
3. Human Error
4. Straight Edgetasy
5. Queens of the Scene Age
6. Work Forced
7. Foetal Grindings
8. Rape of Sanity [MP3]
9. Queer Eye for the Metrosexual

Band Website: Ebolie

Ebolie - Elevation Into Disintegration

Bubsy - Vocals
Berchual - Lead Guitar
Chewy - Drums
Bob - Rhythm Guitar
Drail - Bass

Afore being sent this excellent MCD, I hadn't had the pleasure of encountering Ebolie. During its initial spin, these ears found it to be a creative, entertaining and eccentric work. A hybrid of the most significant components of contemporary Grindcore and Brutal Death Metal, Elevation into Disintegration is a perfectly balanced combination of ferocious battery, memorable groove and lilting melody, seamlessly welded together into one instantly loveable whole by skilled musicianship and a refreshing sense of humour and fun. The band place great importance on variety in their compositions, each of the instruments providing a myriad of different sounds and styles to prevent the listening experience from becoming stale. Such methods are present in their tendency to fire on all cylinders at vertiginous speeds one moment, then to suddenly embark on pleasantly jazz flavoured excursions the next.

I can recall Napalm Death and Cryptopsy being used as two examples of Ebolie's influences from when I conducted a little research about the band before penning my review, but I found these acts to be quite loose comparisons in describing what's on offer here. Granted, they often take the Neanderthal approach to grinding employed by the Napalm Death of yesteryear, and their technical abilities can be likened to Cryptopsy to a certain extent, but to the eardrums of this reviewer Ebolie also share the stylistic qualities of some of today's European Grindcore acts, in particular the Czech scene, along with those of 'ultra brutal' bands from the US, with overtones of a few of the more popular cross experimental Relapse Records groups. The over the top, wrist wrenching snaredrum paddleblasts recall Jamie Bailey or Jordan Varela, while the unexpected jazz inflected passages and humorous features remind me of new and old Purulent Spermcanal respectively. The value of diversity bolstered by airtight musicianship is slightly akin to Intervalle Bizarre or Perversist. Some of the most ambitious arrangements are flecked with The Dillinger Escape Plan or perhaps even Virulence. Culminating towards the end of the disc, Ebolie's daftness is similar to French buffoons Gronibard or recent Amoebic Dysentery.

Instead of merely relying upon the talents of a drummer and his 'killer' blasts to carry the sound, Ebolie collectively possess an abundance of versatility, each having inventive little tricks and tactics up his sleeve. Funky guitar licks and pick scrapes, a wonderful array of vokill attacks and dexterous basslines as well as basssolos allow the band as a unit to harness their creativity and pummel it to its full potential. This combination of highly proficient musicianship and adept style hopping can often lead to a band's unfortunate descent into an indecipherable hodgepodge of cluttered structures and indigestible time changes, with far more emphasis on technical braggadocio than on memorable music and atmosphere. However, Ebolie manage to crowbar enough throwbacks to traditional Grind/Death into their colourful compositions to allow them to retain the momentum that is imperative in holding the listeners interest, thus warranting repeat listens and a willingness to investigate their future recordings.

A sludgy, slapdash production would of course smother Ebolie's subtleties and drown their intricacies, rendering them useless, so a clear production is extremely welcome here. Assisted greatly by this crisp, well balanced sound, Ebolie succeed in conveying the purpose of each track whilst ensuring everyone's performance remains salient, without anyone fighting for space.

In summary, Elevation into Disintegration is the sound of a band who have taken a well established musical format, incorporated the standard 'brootal' elements also utilised by their fellow contemporaries, with absolutely no fear of trying out all manner of far reaching styles and contrasting sounds. Whilst staying faithful to the blueprints that characterise Grind/Death, Ebolie inject oodles of new and exciting medication into the genre. The only thing I can possibly pick holes in is the length of the release; I would have appreciated a longer playing time to allow further exploration of Ebolie's quaint diversions, idiosyncratic mannerisms and of course, their ability to grind like utter bastards. But even this disadvantage ends up working in the bands favour after all, leaving me eager to acquire their next recording. An impressive, enlightening and thoroughly entertaining record.

September 20th, 2005