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
http://www.facebook.com/blackelephantitaly
http://www.instagram.com/blackelephantband
http://www.smallstone.com
http://www.facebook.com/smallstonerecords
http://twitter.com/SSRecordings
http://www.instagram.com/smallstonerecords