Queen Elephantine: Tread Lightly, Leave Footprint
Psych-metal wunderkind Indy Shome, guitarist/vocalist of the Providence-by-way-of-New–York-by-way-of-Hong–Kong outfit Queen Elephantine and sometime label head of Concrete Lo-Fi Records, returns with his band’s second full-length to be released through a yet-undetermined imprint, Kailash. Named for the Himalayan peak on which Hinduism says resides Lord Shiva, the album was mastered by Billy Anderson, who joins the ranks of Sons of Otis and Elder (with both of whom Queen Elephantine has released splits) on the growing list of names associated one way or another with the band.
With Shome on the experimental outing is vocalist Rajkishen Narayanan, former Agnosis/Tides Within bassist Andrew Jude Riotto, The Cutest Babyhead Ever multi-instrumentalist Brett Zweiman on tabla and other percussion and drummer Chris Dialogue, but contrary to what the personnel might suggest, Kailash relies mostly on a minimalist aesthetic, with few parts that would qualify as conventional doom. Instead, Shome and the band offer sparse, loosely-structured excursions into a spontaneous, improv-sounding creative dimension. There is obviously a plan, but it’s written down on 30 separate pieces of paper and it’s up to you to put them in the right order to find out what the hell it is.
Take the hypobaric drone of opener “Search for the Deathless State,” which, led along the cliffside by a thick Riotto bassline, finds itself falling deep with a spoken word movement and slowly encompassing noise. At 15:39, it is a song almost entirely void of payoff — that is, if you sit through the whole thing expecting Sleep-style guitars to kick in and for Kailash to become an entirely different kind of Holy Mountain, you’re going to be disappointed — but the sense I get is they were going for unsatisfying in the traditional sense.
The first of Kailash‘s several flirtations with vocal droning (aka “chanting”) pops up on “Gloaming,” but as multiple lines play off each other with “They’re keeping me from me” eventually emerging as the central lyric, the vocals sound dry and lacking the body some delay or reverb might provide. A more psychedelically effective approach is taken following the untitled interlude with the Lamp of the Universe-esque “The Vulture and the Creed,” which echoes itself into a mantra and further delves into the barrier regions of song. It is cavernous, and the transition from that into the slow acoustic blues repetition of “Priest” is aided by the moment of silence between the end of the one track and the start of the next.
There are a lot of stylistic personalities showing themselves through Queen Elephantine, and though each one is pulled off ably, I can’t help but wonder if the band wouldn’t be better suited to finding a more cohesive sound and then working in outside elements, rather than fully changing pants for each track. Of course, with four of the seven songs over 10 minutes in length, each idea is given plenty of time to go where it will (or won’t), but taken as a whole, Kailash needs to be something more than long to accomplish the goals Queen Elephantine are setting for it. Bit off too much? Maybe. A 72-minute album is a challenge most bands wouldn’t undertake, let alone one so young.
“Godblood” brings back the chanting, blending it with the acoustics of the preceding cut in scorned moans again delivered dryly to their detriment. Since the band recorded Kailash and Shome mixed it, the assumption is that everything on it is purposeful, however improvised it may or may not have been at the time. They had the final cut. And where Earth conveys emptiness through unrelenting repetition of minor chords and expanding soundscapes, parts of Kailash just feel like they have pieces missing.
An exception would be the sweet-sounding closer “Khora,” which reminds me of the tapes The Beatles made in India or something Ben Chasny might try with Six Organs of Admittance. Over the course of its 16 minutes, the song takes a natural evolution into an appropriately minimalist finish. The record as a whole probably would have benefited from the outside opinions of a producer (and it would be another name to attach to the project), but Kailash presents some strong ideas and definitely makes known Queen Elephantine‘s willingness to tread unfrequented paths. It’s a two-way process, but for anyone willing to give the time — at least 216-288 minutes — it’s one that can lead down any number of satisfying roads.
