BULL ELEPHANT
BULL ELEPHANT “The Long War”
By: Lord Randall
Alright, kids, let’s open our history books to the section on WWII, when a giant pachyderm went berserker mode on the Nazis after starting out defending the weary Berliners from the incoming onslaught. Remember that? You don’t? Well, BULL ELEPHANT sure do, as they’ve spent two albums before now telling the tales of our hero’s majestic and elephantine glory.
Having dropped its self-titled debut a scant few months before the world went to dung – or at least more noticeably -, the Londoners unleashed “Created From Death” less than a year later, and then…silence from the studio. Yet, at long last, the final (or first, if you’re traveling backwards through time) chapter of the tale unfolds, by name of “The Long War”.
“Expansion From Perceived Reality” does just that from the start, lumbering, ache-inducing riffs treading on necks of the unfortunate in the way, while deceptively gentle guitar patters wind ‘round the periphery. And as for the vocals, multiple participants evoke an Ozzy-esque SHEAVY whine, blackened high-pitched rasp and an early death/doom bellow. Even from halfway, when the robust acoustic strums join a John Mayall blues pattern, it’s clear BULL ELEPHANT wants to Take You Somewhere.
Living up to its name, “Blackened Chaos Horizon” is ranting, snarling kangpunk at times, hurling death at others, all rolled forth with a BOLT THROWER-on-bath-salts rumble that cannot be ignored. “Zentrum der Neuen Welt” deftly swoops between near MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA placidity, an almost power/prog midsection, and what might be Klaus Meine/Udo Dirkschneider’s bastard love child scraping the lower end of the stratosphere with his/her/its/their vocals, but by damn, it works, even with the death/doom coda.
I tend to cringe when I see a final track over 13 minutes, but if you’ve made it this far into the album, you’ve already bought your ticket for the ride, so when I tell you that the titular number here is truly galvanizing, with the anonymous church mouse mix bringing every element to the fore, there’s no overstatement involved. An almost THIN LIZZY tinge to the leadwork, the mountainous weight of Virginia’s VALKYRIE, the expansiveness of OPETH, it’s all within. Rarely over the past decade have I heard an ending track that has encapsulated what’s come before so perfectly, so naturally, and that’s part of the amazing drawing power “The Long War” wields.
Thank you, BULL ELEPHANT, for this album. Rather glad you’ve shaken up my Top Albums list for this year so late in the game. Also, lemme get that church mouse’s contact information.