After Domingo had left his previous band Ancient Rites, he felt the need to put all his energy and inspiration into a new project. With the first songs written, he started searching for the right singer, knowing that he needed a powerful and melodic voice that would fit both the symphonic parts as well as the heavy guitars.
In february 2015 he teamed up with Evy Verbruggen for this new musical journey: ELUSION. Other musicians were easily found: Frederik Van Mieghem and Kristof De Greef had been working with Domingo in several projects like Gracefallen and Persephone’s Blade. They too were looking for something new, something different …
In 2016 Elusion released the EP ‘Desert Of Enticement’ which received great reviews, 2017 was used to promote this EP during many gigs with bands like Xandria and Welicoruss. In 2018 the Spanish label Art Gates Records showed interest in the band and offered to collaborate. Recordings for the first full CD ‘Singularity’ were started. Meanwhile Stijn Van Peborgh was added to the line-up as second guitar player. The first full CD ‘Singularity’ was released worldwide on June 28th 2019, the CD was promoted extensively both in Belgium and abroad.
The Corona pandemic caused a forced break that was intensively used to write and record new material. The new songs show the continuous evolution of the Elusion sound: stubborn, melodic and powerful. The CD is self-released on January 13th 2023. Check it here:
…In Love And War starts furiously: it’s clear that they have a lot of energy after not being able to canalise it on stage for a long time due to the Covid-19 restrictions! Evy grunts, screams … but also can sound like an angel. Her voice is simply mesmerizing! With her voice she can impersonate love and war, just incredible! Next to her stands a real band who can deliver the best sound and are in sync with the vocals and the lyrics!
Chiaroscuro sounds a bit lighter, with the focus on clean vocals (however the panther in her sometimes wakes up. For the first time I also hear their symphonic sound!
Acrimonious makes us listen to the deeper bass sound and more growls from Evy whilst the drums are hitting hard. The tempo moves on like waves on a wild sea. Halfway we get some slices of symphonic metal, but they hide it well.
Adversity starts with an acoustic guitar and a synth playing a piano sound but very fast the song explodes and changes into a melancholic metal track. The story telling vocals towards the end give it a more epic touch.
Science/Fiction mixes harsh with sweet and has a bit of a bombastic touch. Once again tha vocals are really showing off! The drums are hard hitting, whilst the guitar sounds sharp and fresh. The symphonic touch could have been a bit mor present, but I have no other remarks to give as the song really sounds good!
From The Woods To The Water sounds completely different from the previous songs and feels like it could have featured in the brand new Avatar movie! Just listen to the first minute of this track and you’ll understand what I mean!
In Balance starts with an electronic sound, whilst softly building up. Soon enough the drums and guitar shred it to pieces and the tempo rises! Somehow the vocals sound a bit too high, whilst the growls sound really great.
Isochronism starts with the Avatar feeling and rambling guitars guided by a slice of symphonic metal. Pretty fast an acoustic guitar slows down the tempo and gives it a more balladed minded touch.
Deafening Silence is the last track on this album and has a rambling guitar, a hard hitting drummer and vocals that mix clean with growls and grunts.
Conclusion: the album is short (only 9 songs). I feel like the symphonic part could have been lifted up a bit (but I think that is due to budget restrictions and has nothing to do with their talent)! I feel they are talented and Evy really can do it all! The synergy between the bandmembers is great and I can feel the potential! They are getting better and I think getting a bigger budget will help them get better as it’s clear: they have the powers to become really huge within them, the only thing that keeps them nowadays on the ground is just a matter of a bigger budget and that really means they are great!
Members:
Evy Verbruggen: vocals
Domingo Smets: guitar
Frederik Van Mieghem: drums
Links:
Website: http://www.elusion.be
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elusionmetal
Bandcamp: https://elusionmetal.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elusionmetal
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrj74sK_HUZs9MbFCcO6aGg
