A while back I reviewed the And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's, Source Tags and Codes, which had been recommended by a fellow blogger. I didn't fall in love immediately. I am a more "tuneful, melodic" prone person and it took a while for the noise to dissipate and the beauty to shine through. But in the end, their own unique sound really grew on me and now it's a favorite.

I was pretty excited to see their new release, Elena's Tomb collecting dust in Eric's office, (it was just released on 4-01) :). Elena's more an EP than a full cd. There are only five tracks, but how sweet they are.

The first single "Mach Schau" is exactly what you expect from ...Trail of Dead. A deceitfully quiet opening that builds to an ear piercing, asymmetrical guitar crunching riff crescendo. Frontmen Jason Reece and Conrad Keely growl their throaty raw vocals and as the chorus say on "All Saint's Day" they indeed "make some noise.

Elena's is definitely more melodic and coherent, and dare I say - a much more peaceful collage than Source Codes and Tags. There are some surprises on this all too short CD - I found hints of Bowie, NIN and a little psychedelia Roger Waters feel to it. If they ever get a breakthrough hit, I imagine they will be extremely popular, but given their penchant for underground cult status, they may never strive for it.

I give it an A- because of its rather cruel length.

May I suggest "Counting Off The Days" as a nice track to listen too. I couldn't find an mp3 on their site, but I think you can listen if you click on the cd icons below at Amazon.