CoC : Twelve After Elf - Twelve After Elf : Review

Twelve After Elf - _Twelve After Elf_
(WOM, 1996)
by: Drew Snow (5 out of 10)

Hailing from Germany, and having a name that sounds like it belongs to a Tolkien-inspired black metal band (it actually just means "Twelve After Eleven", in German), Twelve After Elf play a kind of mid-paced metal/rock hybrid which, on the surface, is fairly good, but after a few listens changes into just mildly annoying. The vocals alternate between very Alice In Chains-like "clean," and some pretty bad death growls, by far the worse of the two. The playing is pretty simplistic, also, without much melody to be heard. Maybe I'm just not the person for whom this album was intended, and I've heard that, in a live setting, Twelve After Elf are awesome, so I can't totally dismiss this album, but take caution when considering its purchase.

(article published 18/11/1996)