Anonymous band collective from England releases a concept album about a dead African elephant that an old Nazi tried to bring back to life but that was then rescued by a female shaman who has her own plans for the creature.
Whaaat?! Yeah, it sounds like the story of a crossover between Hellboy and Raiders of the Lost Ark – one never knows how seriously the collective takes its music. But one must admit that it is catching and one has heard worse stories to base a record on.
Bull Elephant from London do an interesting mix of post-rock and sludge with some death metal-tinges to portray the savage nature of the creature. It is a mix that sometimes really surprises with a lot of coherence, however there are some moments – especially the high-pitched clean vocals – that makes the author of this review wonder, if they really wanted to sound like an 80s hair metal band. It’s not as if the singer is incapable of doing that, it just sounds too cheesy and takes away from the band’s seriousness. But wait – maybe that is exactly what this shall be?!
The concept is hilarious, the music is really good, sometimes doomy, sometimes fast, quite often pretty and posty with clean licks and the drums are really driving and energetic. The vocals alternate between 70s proto metal, the glam vocals mentioned before and some death grunts. They have a knack for making those seven songs spanning 38 minutes really worthwhile and entertaining.
One definite flaw is the typo used for the otherwise really excellent artbook – it’s barely readable, but maybe that’s due to the electronic press kit. An album that will amuse you with its savages attacks, its own take on the stories of old that we loved on the big screen, its hilarious portrayal of the Nazis trying to embrace anything remotely occult. If you want your music serious and thoughtful, then do not follow this record, if you like it with an ironic twist – then this will put a smile upon your face.
