Review by SilentScream213 for Spirit Caravan - Elusive Truth (2001)

Spirit Caravan dropped two albums before disappearing into the smoke, and both are considered quite respectable pieces of Stoner Metal (some call them Doom Metal, but there is no Doom Metal here). As with their debut, Elusive Truth doesn’t set out to reinvent or even add anything new to the genre, instead carrying on the tried-and-true formula spawned by Sabbath back in ’71.

The problem is, that sound was boring in ’71, and it’s still boring 30 years later in 2001. As far as Metal goes, Stoner Metal is one of the laziest and most passive genres, and “Elusive Truth” is a perfectly average example of the genre. Unremarkable vocals, riffs that evoke nothing, and drumming that is simple and monotonous. Who knows if the bass is even there.

Positives? Well, it’s still a decent album. If you just wanna throw on some groovy Metal, it gets the job done. There’s no emotion to it whatsoever, so you don’t have to worry about it affecting your mood. Could work well with an open window drive on a muggy summer night. It’s never offensively boring or anything, I have more of a problem with people claiming this to be some holy grail than I do with the actual album (which is average).

Again I should reiterate the album is fine enough. If you LOVE Stoner Metal, this should be more than good enough for you. For me though, Spirit Caravan are simply a band I would have lost absolutely nothing had I never heard them.