Black Elephant Set Aug. 21 Release for Seven Swords; Track Streaming Now
I’m pretty sure I wrote the bio below for Black Elephant‘s upcoming album, Seven Swords. Or if not, I at least gave it a good once-over from what they had before. Either way, I’ve had the chance to sit with the release for a while now, and while there are no-doubter familiar aspects to it in the warm fuzzy tones and charged riffs, there is a subtlety to the blend between patient instrumentalism and all-go forward thrust that is more outwardly dynamic than the band might first let on. That is to say, you should definitely go ahead and stream opening track “Berta’s Flame” at the bottom of this post. It’s not like you’ll regret doing so. But keep in mind as you do that the song isn’t necessarily telling you the whole story of the record.
Also, that story seems to have something to do with sumo wrestling. I’m still not quite sure what. But hey, riffs.
The PR wire has words:
BLACK ELEPHANT: Psychedelic Fuzz Rock Alchemists To Release Seven Swords August 21st Via Small Stone; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available
The planets have aligned, and space itself has opened up to grace us with the heavy roll of BLACK ELEPHANT’s Seven Swords, set for release this August via Small Stone Records.
The Italian fuzzmongers mark ten years of cooperative corporeal existence in 2020 and last checked in from their native Savona in Summer 2018 with the aptly titled Cosmic Blues. Two years and an entire lifetime later, they’re back with another collection of classic-minded heavy groovers, picking the best the ’70s, ’90s, and ’10s had to offer in riffery and melding spacey blowouts with desert-hued hooks.
Seven Swords is the second LP BLACK ELEPHANT has issued in league with Detroit-based imprint Small Stone Records, and whether it’s the scorching leads of “Yayoi Kusama” or the conscious wink-and-nod of “Red Sun And Blues Sun” a short time later — just ahead of the bluesy “Seppuku” and the near-nine-minute stretch of closer “Govinda” — the four-piece bring their finest work to-date in an efficient seven-track, thorty-three-minute stretch, building not only on what they accomplished on Cosmic Blues, but also what their prior two full-lengths — 2014’s Bifolchi Inside and 2012’s Spaghetti Cowboys — were building toward. This is a band coming into their own, wasting neither their time nor yours in the process.
Seven Swords was recorded and mixed by Giulio Farinelli at Green Fog Studio in Genoa, mastered by Farinelli at Everybody On The Shore Studio in Milan, Italy, and mastered by Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio Labs in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Fuzz pedals preach on, the sky cracks, and the riffs themselves seem to lock bellies in sumo battles, so what the hell? The world’s ending anyway. You might as well have some fun with it. BLACK ELEPHANT’s Seven Swords will be released on August 21st on CD and digitally via Small Stone as well as limited edition vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz.
For preorders and to sample opening track, “Berta’s Flame,” visit the Small Stone Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION.
Seven Swords Track Listing:
1. Berta’s Flame
2. The Last March Of Yokozuna
3. Yayoi Kusama
4. Mihara
5. Red Sun And Blues Sun
6. Seppuku
7. Govinda
BLACK ELEPHANT:
Alessio Caravelli – guitar, vocals
Massimiliano Giacosa – guitar
Marcello Destefanis – bass
Simone Brunzu – drums
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http://www.smallstone.com
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http://www.smallstone.bandcamp.com
