Heavy Blues, check… Fuzz, check… Psychedelic, check! At 14 years of existence Italy’s Black Elephant return with a monster of an album entitled The Fall of the Gods. We are talking album of the year material! It is that good.

In 2018 the band unleashed Cosmic Blues, a true underground classic. In 2020 the band delivered the Japanese themed Seven Swords. The DNA shared between these two albums are very simple: both are collections of classic-minded heavy groovers, picking the best the ’70s, ’90s and ’10s had to offer in face melting riffery.

The Fall of the Gods continues in the tradition of their two previous sonic gems, and really takes things to a heavier place, both figuratively, and literally. Band leader Alessio Caravelli gave us this insight: “The theme this time around is the fall, from the decay to the reborn… After the last very tough years for all societies, we understood that many principles and colossus have fallen, exactly like gods and ancient cultures such as Maya and Aztec did. This has been also the inspiration for our graphic designer Farfante, who hand drew the cover and art for the new album with these concepts in mind.”

A wide range of dynamics are present (All Them Witches come to mind). Hints of Hendrix meld with moments of 90’s Shoegaze (think the Verve’s A Storm in Heaven album), and then head down a long desert highway that would make Brant Bjork feel at home.

Fuzz pedals preach on, the sky cracks, and the riffs crush. The world’s ending anyway. You might as well have some fun with it.

Credits