Hope: and Songs to Sing

Mike Law started Eulcid on a whim in 1996. Although the band wrote the music for their first song in one evening, their first album, The Wind Blew All the Fires Out, took a year to put together and debuted in 2000. Six years, and several different band members later, Eulcid has released another full-length CD.

The theme of this album, Hope and Songs to Sing, seemed more about crying out at injustices than about hope, although perhaps crying out in complaint is a first step in that direction. I was not very impressed with the music or singing in the first few songs. It was loud and unmelodic; however, the words were the best part. The song “Checkbook” was a bit better; the sounds of the music did not overshadow the singing quite as much, which allowed me to more easily hear and appreciate the lyrics. “Word of Mouth” has a very nice steel guitar solo with a short succinct message, perhaps my favorite of them all.

This style of music is one that does not easily cross age, ethnicity and cultural lines. I had a hard time classifying the music. The music style seemed almost, metallic but not quite. The words being more shouted than sang were almost rapping, but not quite. Those who like the harsh, abrasive sounds of heavy drums and steely guitar will likely love this work.

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