ELUSIVE marked 2001 with their outstanding debut, Destination Zero, an album that impressed fans and the music press alike from the very beginning. Contrary to what the album title suggested, mastermind Tommy Olsson and charismatic frontman Jan K. Barkved had a very definite idea of where they wanted to go; their sights were set on the rock zenith. Positive reviews all around, destination Zero was celebrated as “the best debut album since ‘86”, and oustanding shows in their Norewegian homeland and at assorted festivals (M'era Luna 2002, Geel 2003 – Headliner, The Invitation 2004 – Co-Headliner) established ELUSIVE, strengthened by the addition of guitarist Kristian Gundersen to the line-up, as a force to be reckoned with on the international rock scene. Expectations were high with the release of the 2005 follow-up, The Great Silence, and it picked up seamlessly where the debut left off, taking the band one step higher.
In 2007, Destination Zero marks the next milestone in ELUSIVE’s history – as the first track of their third album Locked Doors, Drinks And Funerals – Songs From The Desert. "It was meant to be the opening track of the same album, but it would have destroyed the balance“ explains Olsson, the creative force behind the songwriting, mixing and production of the album. Developed and recorded between November and January in the band’s Black Riders Studios, with the final mastering done by Inge Engelsvold at Dreamlab Studios, the songs on Locked Doors, Drinks And Funerals weren’t created specifically for the album at the outset. “Some of the songs were written while we recorded, and others I’ve been writing on for years,” Tommy reveals. “We’ve got a closet full of tapes and CDs, which are demos or more like sketches we record whenever we get inspired, but we never finish a song before the song gives us a sense or purpose to finish it. There’s no timeline for good songs in the ELUSIVE universe so it doesn’t matter if the idea was done last week or if it’s 15 years old – as long as it’s good.”
There is a timelessness that defines ELUSIVE’s individualism. The band works outside and independent of fashion and musical trends, concentrating instead on the essence of their art; an unlimited passion for writing songs.
Not only does ELUSIVE bridge the gap between tradition and modern edge, between fresh arrangements and polished melodies with ease, they remind people that there’s more to Gothic Rock than contrived bombast and depression for the sake of image. ELUSIVE is about powerful guitar rock with a unique melancholic twist. Each track on Locked Doors, Drinks And Funerals has its own fascinating aura. So Destination Zero transports the legant and also frightening coolness of the modern industrial age while Into Your Arms seems to indulge in the endless warmth of the prarie “there wasn’t a specific vision this time as opposed to our two previous albums. We just started recording and didn’t think about where it was going,” says Olsson. “Some of the songs point back to The Great Silence, others point to Destination Zero. And some of them are possibly pointing towards our next album, who knows? It’s an evolving thing. But it still sounds distinctively ELUSIVE.”
With Locked Doors, Drinks And Funerals, ELUSIVE in 2007 are focusing on their strengths: sophisticated lyrics backed by captivating melodies, heavy riffs and atmospheric keyboards, a path that has put them even higher on the peak of rock’s Olympus.
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