Release
date: April 22nd
2016. Label: Magnetic Eye Records. Format: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl
Elephant
Tree – S/T – Tracklisting
1.Spore
2.Wither
3.Dawn
4.Circles
5.Aphotic
Blues
6.Echoes
7.Fracture
8.Surma
Band
Members:
Jack
Townley (Guitar, Vocals)
Peter
Holland (Bass, Vocals)
Riley
MacIntyre (Sitar, Vocals)
Sam
Hart (Percussion)
Review:
Elephant
Tree achieved some minor acclaim for their debut EP – Theia –
back in 2014 with its style of Psychedelic Rock mixed with heavy
vibes of Sludge, Doom and Stoner Metal. They’re still signed to ace
record label – Magnetic Eye Records and are now ready to release
their self-titled debut album.
So
what can we expect from their new album. People expecting Theia part
two are likely to be disappointed as this album has a different feel
to their debut EP. Gone are the harsh vocals and replaced with a
psychedelic and highly atmospheric doom metal feel. The band even
channels 60s/70s classic Hard Rock/Blues Rock sounding rhythms and
vocals at times which I was totally floored by.
Opening
track – Spore – is fifty seconds of ambient drone based noises to
bring this album to life. It’s quite an unsettling piece despite
the short running time but it’s quite cool of the band to show some
of the harsh noises that awaits you on the album.
Second
track – Wither – is where we see Elephant Tree in full flow.
Distant vocals played against heavy sludge/stoner guitars with a
creepy psychedelic environment playing in the background. The
instrumental work is the one thing that draws you in as the band
create a classic sounding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal gloomy environment.
It’s one of the albums standout songs as Elephant Tree creates
their own unique sound. The final two minutes of the song show you
why Elephant Tree is so highly thought of. Wait until you experience
the heavy and distorted progressive riffs.
Third
track – Dawn – opts for a more Doom/Stoner Metal feel with vocals
that are influenced by 60s Psych Rock. The music is heavy from the
start with the band creating heavy distorted noises that allows the
band to play impressive guitar solos. It's the vocals that impress
the most even though they appear for a brief amount of time.
Fourth
track – Circles – sees the band create a cool doomy acoustic vibe
set against a solitary guitar playing in the background with waves of
psychedelic noises appearing here and there.
Fifth
track – Aphotic Blues – returns to the earlier distorted sounds
of the album with the band excelling on vocal duties once again. The
riffs can be quite intimidating and depressing at times but it’s
the classic psych sounding vocals that give Elephant Tree their
unique sound. Elephant Tree slow things down in the second half of
the song as it allows the band to create bass heavy drone based
noises that you would expect from bands such as Conan.
Sixth
track – Echoes sees the band change their sound yet again but this
time for a more Blues Rock feel. You have to give Elephant Tree
credit for making all the songs sound very different to each other.
Though it doesn’t take long for the heavy Doom/Stoner Metal riffs
to appear and allow Elephant Tree to create some of the albums
heaviest riffs.
The
final two tracks – Fracture and Surma – sees Elephant Tree create
more atmospheric and doom based noises with the vocals being more
refined especially on Fracture. Surma is perhaps the standout track
on the album as it’s where the different sounding riffs and vocals
combine for one final epic and exciting ride.
Elephant
Tree have created a brilliant and complex sounding debut album. This
is simply unmissable. End of.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Richard Jones at Sheltered Life PR for the promo. Elephant Tree –
S/T - will be available to buy on Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl from Magnetic Eye Records from April 22nd 2016.
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