By Jim Rowland
Hailing from Florence, Italy, three-piece instrumental psychedelic doom alchemists Lord Elephant have shared a stage with the likes of Eyehategod, Church Of Misery, Nebula and Bongzilla. This month they follow up their well-received 2022 debut album ‘Cosmic Awakening’ with another blast of cosmic psychedelic stoner-doom in second album ‘Ultra Soul’, again via Heavy Psych Sounds.
‘Ultra Soul’ conjures up seven fresh grooving soundscapes that will do Lord Elephant’s growing reputation no harm at all.
The psychedelic and atmospheric opener ‘Electric Dunes’ acts as a suitable intro before the appropriately titled ‘Gigantia’ kicks the album off in full force with heavy grooves of stoner/doom alternating with more tranquil passages, with ‘Smoke Tower’ and the particularly doom-laden ‘MindNight’ following similar lines.
‘Black River Blues’, as the title suggests, is more blues-infused, but retains the heavy stoner/doom template, whilst ‘Leave’, closing the album, builds from a dreamy, subtle first half to a rousing slice of psychedelic rock with a hint of Hendrix bubbling under it.
Best of the bunch for me is the lengthy ‘Astral’, boasting particularly strong hooks, riffs and grooves with subtle, spacey interludes.
There’s nothing new or ground-breaking here, Lord Elephant are walking a well-trodden path, but to pull off this kind of all-instrumental psych/stoner/doom rock, you have to have the grooves, the riffs, the feel, the hooks and the chops to keep it interesting.
Lord Elephant have those by the bucket-load, and do it very well indeed.
- ‘Ultra Soul‘ will be released via Heavy Psych Sounds on Friday (30 January).
- Lord Elephant play the Belgium and Netherlands editions of the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest at the end of February:
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