Elemental, which consists of Samuel Short on vocals and bass, Kieth Cripps and Alex Abernathy on guitar, and Ryan Cripps on drums, is a three-year-old band whose debut EP, Sound The War Drum, is some in-between of extremely hard rock and soft(er)core metal.

A product of Walnut House, Sound The War Drum’s seven tracks were recorded in Summer 2011, and the album was a highly collaborative work. Short and both Cripps contributed lyrics, and all took part in structuring the music. Elemental’s sound is scuzzy, wah-pedaled and multi-faceted in rhythm and tempo; it’s loud but not obnoxious, putting it somewhere close to what could be called metal lite.

Who is metal lite for? Kids who are terrified of mosh pits and pissed off by indecipherable lyrics sung in guttural screams, but find enough intrigue and craftsmanship in the music to venture timidly out to metal shows. And no one can say Elemental is artless—the band steers the music in constantly changing directions, changes rhythms and tempos, and take as many solos as an improv jazz combo.

There is a random cello intro on “Attack” and a rhythm funnily reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” that opens “Siege.” Wah pedals singe the album, and well-executed guitar solos stretch color over distortion. The music is good, if Short’s vocals sound slightly underdeveloped, but musical force prevails over vocals here, and a hard rock/metal band’s first record could be horrifically worse.