Queen Elephantine | Myspace
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Contact/Booking: clfrecords@gmail.com
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INTERVIEWS
Doom
Metal Alliance Derek: Musicwise…
doom, psych,
drone, noise, grunge, stoner rock, sludge, rock especially from the 60s
and 70s, metal…. Earth, Swans, Om. Image and idea
wise…
primitivism, death, ancient civilizations, hollow spaces, insanity,
Zen, nihilism, vedic and tantric stuff. ======================================== This
Is Rock Download PDF
======================================== The
Sleeping Shaman Queen
Elephantine could be
described more as a collective than a band
and are certainly not one to shy away from experimenting, not only with
their sound, but also with their constantly rotating line-up which
see's members, past and present, come and go with every new release and
with it brings a whole wealth of influences and ideologies to the mix.
Intrigued to know more about the enigma that is Queen Elephantine, I
caught up with their main protagonist Indy... ======================================== Grey
Day Zine GDZ: First, What’s the history behind the name of the band “Queen Elephantine”, sounds like a Indian divinity or similar? QE:There’s actually not much of a story here. Danny Quinn and I had almost always been in bands together, and we thought, Let’s try and for once get a standard band name… The Adjective Nouns format. Of course we failed. Sadly, Queen Elephantine was the most normal name we could conceive. Later on thanks to Google we found out about Satis, the Queen of Elephantine, as in the Elephantine Islands off the Nile, and that whole myth. At the same time, Adrian Dexter had painted our split with Elder with a ‘Queen Elephantine’ character coming out of the Nile. So we like that connection, but it’s just coincidence. GDZ: In Internet Queen Elephantine come from different countries like Hong Kong - China … New York - USA … or Bangladesh - India… Where you really come from? QE:That’s a very difficult question. The band was formed in Hong Kong, where all the original members grew up. The self titled disc, the splits with Elder and Sons of Otis, and Surya were all recorded in Hong Kong. Then I moved to America for studies. Danny, the other founder of the band, trusted me to carry the spirit of the band on, and the group reformed with all different members in the new country. I met Raj, who composes the music with me now, in New York. The two of us recorded Yatra and the yet-unreleased split with Aluna with Chris Dialogue on drums and Brett Zweiman on bass. For our next full length, Kailash, we really have no idea who we’re going to record it with. Then I’m moving to Rhode Island in January, so we shall see what happens then. GDZ: Now, it’s time to talking about your music… Can you describe me in few words the essence of your music. QE:Someone described Surya as early Grateful Dead that heard everything that happened with rock and metal since. I liked that. Or maybe as Danny Quinn puts it, “Heavy Hippie Music.” It’s spiritual music. Relaxing, lethargic, downer music. GDZ: If you need to label your music… What genre is more accomplish to Queen Elephantine`s music… f.e: Sludge. Stoner. Psychedelic. Experimental. Post-blablabla. QE:I think Psychedelic is an easy cop-out, so that. Because what does psychedelic really mean? It can mean stoner, space, acid, and all of that, it can mean doom, ambient, drone stuff, it can even mean trance music. It can mean Velvet Underground, it can mean Kyuss, it can mean Pink Floyd, it can mean YOB, it can mean something like Gnaw Their Tongues. So it’s a good, safe label if we have to pick one. GDZ: What’s your favourite track from all the releases of Queen Elephantine and why? QE:Ramesses the Second, I’d say. Because of Danny Quinn’s bass line. We recorded the Ramesses suite, as in the split with Elder, completely improvised, and the bass line that Danny came in with on the guitar riff right then gave me an incredible feeling of elation. It sounds like a massive elephant marching to a war he’s not going to wage. GDZ: I really like your covers, Who painted the Surya and Yatra covers? QE:Surya was done by Adrian Dexter, who’s in my opinion one of the most fantastic music artists today. He’s just on the rise - some twenty years of age, so hopefully the world will see a lot more from him. He also did the art for our splits with Elder and Sons of Otis. Adrian is almost a member of the band who doesn’t play in it. Yatra was done by Aurora Cremer, who also did a beautiful poster for our shows in Delaware and Virginia last November. GDZ: In Surya tracks, I can hear into background a very hypnotic meditation bells or something similar… This is a sound sampler or an ethnic instrument? QE:For the first four tracks of Surya, you’re hearing an electronic tanpura, which we use live as well. In Indian classical music, it is used as a sort of tonal anchor, since much of the music is modal and improvised, like ours. GDZ: Recently you published a free EP “Yatra”… tell me about the musical diferences between Surya and Yatra releases. QE:Like I said above, it’s a completely different band. Also, Surya was jammed out from beginning to end with one mindset, except for Bison which we had recorded a little earlier. Yatra is a grouping of two tracks we did at different times with different sounds. That’s why it’s an EP and not a full album for us. It’s a collection. GDZ: Queen Elephantine self-released Surya… Why you chose this kind of release? QE:For a full length, we want to make sure that it is going to a label we know and respect so as to make sure we’re on the same page and have the same vision. Within that group, we couldn’t find any label that wanted to release it. So we self-released it digitally and on CDR to try and raise funds to release it on CD, which is happening now. GDZ: Nobody signs Queen Elephantine? Do you have any contacts with music labels for future releases? QE:Well, that’s the situation with Surya, but we are always into doing splits and collaborations and EPs for other labels. Catacomb Records from the UK is about to release a 7” split with Aluna soon. We have a few collaboration albums that we are working on and an EP release in France, but I don’t want to speak to soon about them. GDZ: Tell me about the experience of self-release an album, jammin`… production… mixing… QE:It’s the best, as long as you’ve got the equipment you need to do it. In Hong Kong, we had our own studio. We are weird people with a weird taste in sound. Many people complain about the production of Surya, but we really love it and want it to sound exactly like that. When we recorded in New York, I found it very difficult to communicate exactly what I wanted out of a recording to an engineer. I will probably mix things myself, until we find the right engineer with the same vision as us. GDZ: When I make an interview always repeat the same question about Internet Downloads, because I’m so interested in artist’s opinion. What’s your opinion about music business? Do illegal downloads benefit the artists, because much people have access to our music, or simply rip your work? QE:I can’t speak for big bands who are making a living off their music, but we primarily want people to hear our music. I’ve grown up with the internet and freedom of information and I was something like ten or eleven when Napster first came out, so for most of my life I have been able to download music. I personally believe that music should be free. Today, illegal or not, that’s the reality, and people are listening to more music of a greater diversity than ever before. You can download most of the music you want for free. But then the real music lovers will go out and buy the CD or the LP to cherish a hard copy collectible of the album, and support the band. They’ll go to concerts, and buy t-shirts. This way, there’s a lot less money in the industry, yes, but it’s a lot more dedicated and a lot purer. Today’s situation primarily injures those involved in manufacturing music who rely not on exposing quality music, but on packaging and selling an image by flooding the mass-media. Many of the fans of this kind of music are also therefore fickle and have little loyalty or respect for the musicians. If this sector of the music sphere is getting choked out, then good. The best thing about doom music is that all the bands are in it first for the music. No one is going to say, “I know, a good way to get rich is to start a doom band.” How about for a band struggling to get off its feet? People probably won’t pay ten dollars or whatever for their CD without ever having heard of them before anyway. If someone downloads their album and likes it, then he might tell five other people about the band, and so on, and the exposure will lead to some good press and some good shows and they’ll reap their monetary reward in time, and probably quicker. GDZ: Finally, can you reveal me some plans for the band future… QE:We are doing a few collaborations, like I said, but until they’re done I don’t want ot talk about them, because a lot of times these plans change or fall through. Our focus in the next few months, before I move out of New York in December, is going to be Kailash. This may or may not be our last album, even though it’s only our second full length. It all depends what happens in Rhode Island and what we feel is right for the band. It’s going to be very different from Surya in some ways, but we always try and preserve the spirit of the band throughout, so I am sure by the time it is done, it will also sound very similar in some ways. We have recently been very disillusioned with shows in clubs – a lot of bands like us aren’t best felt in a club. I went to an Earth concert in May and I really wanted the show to leave the Knitting Factory and go out to an old warehouse or an abandoned Long Island wharf. Raj had just sat down in the middle of the crowd. That’s the space we are in right now. We want to play in our own element, which is nature. We want to go out and be inspired by nature and gather our ideas from there, write songs outdoors. I was watching a river thawing from winter in Maine, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, but more than that, it reminded me why I needed to play music. I could heard the rumbling bass and the soft guitars flowing with the heavy crush of the river. We also want to play whatever we feel is right, and not be limited by instrumentation and what we can do live. Whereas Surya was a completely live thing, this one will probably be done with more premeditation. Rather than, “Let’s just play and see what happens,” we might start with “This is the image we are following and this is the end we are hunting, let’s now see how we play it.” We already recorded some demos for Kailash, before our mindset totally flipped, so we have a nice 7” worth of material, but as usual, I don’t know if we’ll find anyone who wants to release it. I am also hoping that someone will be interested in releasing Surya on vinyl, but no one has approached us about it yet. GDZ: That’s all! QE:Thanks so much. Good luck with the zine.
"Droning Earth Vol 25" / EGB 2009 Queen Elephantine toob minuni Dark Ambient rännakud Tiibetis. Vokaaliefektid on loos suurepärased ning väga sünged. Kohati Raison D’Etre’lik helide käsitlus, teisalt aga Dead Can Dance’i meenutav meditatiivne ethereal. ======================================== Nonelouder.com:
Live Review Queen Elephantine played next and as aggressive as Ichabod was, these boys (there wasn’t a member over 21) brought us back to earth, or should I say, launched us into space (rock) with their droney, serpentine interpretation of Sunn0))) as filtered through Sleep. It was a droney repetitive riff fest. Vocals were more chants then melodies and the structures were loose and at times more theoretical then solid and concrete. These fella’s are one’s to watch. They are grasping, but aren’t quite reaching, a unique sound. I think they may get there…. ======================================== Bad Acid Magazine: Tab 6 ======================================== "Sound
Of The Catacombs" Compilation / Catacomb
Records 2008 QUEEN ELEPHANTINE - "Sea Goat" : Apparently these New Yorkers are sometimes compared to PINK FLOYD. Judging by this track I wonder why because doom rock simply doesn’t come any more limp-wristed than this. Which is a good thing by the way! One of the better tracks on the comp. ======================================== HK
Underground: Live Review off to a slow but deeply rich start, they're all about populating the bassline with juicy tidbits of stoner love and fascinating variation to keep you solidly in their groove. and a wonderful groove it is. i thoroughly enjoy every sedimentary syllable they have to utter. they seem to have almost invented the mind of the stoner in all its cannabic glory, an absolutely blissful place to get lost in for an hour or three. not a whole lot of original melody here, but pretty much everything a slowly wandering mind seeks to encounter. they are the abolutely perfect accompaniment to couch-lock, leaving you wanting nothing but another plate of nachos. the band "tool" has a bit more creativity and variation, but queen elephantine is very stiff competition as far as keeping an awesome vibe going goes. i seriously cannot think of any way that they could possibly improve. they're like floyd without the legacy. truly a stoner's wet (if a bit cotton mouthy) dream. -Amos
By Nathan November 2009 Your Brand New Eastern Drone Gods Since Nick (the bastard) beat me to the punch to review the new Mercury Program album by literally an hour and a half, I'll do this instead. I was literally on my way to this prestigious website to give a glowing, if somewhat reserved, review of Chez Viking. Nick, I've never met you, but you are a bastard. I was even going to make a crack about how it's been released in several vinyl colors. Jee-zus. But anyway, enough about my shortcomings and jelousy. Queen Elephantine, and their latest, Kailash. That's what this is about. If you like (or heard of) Ginunngagap, Warduna, or Black Math Horsemen, you're going to love this. Psychedelic drone folk headphone happiness. If Hinduism turns out to be true, and their version of the end of the world starts happening, this is the soundtrack. Formed in Hong Kong in 2006 by some dude named Indrayudh Shome (the only remaining original member) and somehow currently based in NYC, this band knows how to slow-burn. Seven songs over a little more than 71 minutes. This is the sort of thing that makes me happy. The opener, "Search for the Deathless State" and track six, "Godblood" are the only songs containing anything resembling vocals, but the comparison is stretched, as is more chanting than anything else. Songs float along, never exactly ambient, but not quite picking up a beat either. Excellent tabla drumming gives the side of me that loves Talvin Singh a reason to smile. There is one thing that drives me nuts, however. When this album was released, the average age of the band members was a measly 19. They started making music together when they were 16. When I was 16, I was jacking off in a Tool and Helmet rip off band with this guy. I stand to turn 31 in slightly more than a month. Pardon me while I vomit over my lack of progress. Surely this deserves better, but I'm bitter about being old. Only a 4.237 our of 5. Taking away my curmudgeon-ness, 4.9 out of 5. ======================================== Foxy Digitalis By Daniel DeRogatis September 2009 Kailash is the mythical Himalayan peak on which, according to the Hindu religion, ‘the Destroyer dwells in the state of perpetual meditation…in the deathless state’. It is the guiding spirit and inspiration for the cassette-only (they’re planning to release a CD version) second album by New York’s spiritual stoner-doom drifters, Queen Elephantine. Their journey begins with “Search for the Deathless State”, a gargantuan drone-prayer with majestic, HUGE guitar riffs that churn lugubriously, hovering thick in the air instead of launching into a repetitive groove. The sumptuous heaviosity is surrounded by hand drum patterings, waves of swelling cymbals, and white-eyed chanting/singing. Awesome. After that epic beginning, things stumble a bit during “Gloaming” which is full of spoken-word poetry that I found a bit corny and distracting, but the tablas and sitar buzz combined with sparse drumming kept me intrigued. “The Vulture & the Creed” is the album’s highlight: a reverb-soaked, cavernous soundscape of disembodied string instruments and ghostly voices which are simultaneously eerie and beautiful. The vocals are going to be the deciding factor for most listeners. Aside from “Search…” and “Vulture…”, they wander just a bit too aimlessly and tunelessly during other parts of the album. That being said, there are still lots of very strong elements at work throughout. Side two has a bunch of cool, memorable moments: the warbly field recordings of tolling bells and chanting monks during “Priest”…the loose, snake-like, sinister bass groove of “Godblood”…and most notably, the interplay of acoustic guitar and luxurious tambura drone of “Khora”. All in all, there are plenty of interesting things going on here, and if they can tighten up and reel in the vocals a bit, Queen Elephantine has lots of room to grow and the potential to make excellent records in the future. 6/10 ======================================== Mishka Bloglin May 2009 If and when Shiva ever decides to rain down an Apocalypse, this will most assuredly be her soundtrack. The trek up Kailash is Eastern influenced Holy Mountain of atmospheric Doom Metal that will turn the skies black as the stars rain down around you… The seventh seal is revealed! And just as you’re ready to repent, lo and behold enters Brahma and Vishnu in the guise of the last two tracks, “Godblood” and “Khora” ruining what was a devastatingly good end of days. “Khora” is a decent end piece but most of “Godblood” ruins the momentum and keeps Kailash from being truly epic. Doh! Kailash has only ever been officially released on tape with no real release date set for other formats. But you’re all clever and im sure you can find a digital copy floating around somewhere. ======================================== Rottenmeats May 2009 This is a fuzzy muscle play of distorted dirge and Hindu atmospherics that easily embodies the slow majesty of bands like Earth, or to a lesser extent, Mono … but this is a rawer, far heavier brew, buckling the confines of the medium, so over-saturated that it almost struggles for definition. The instruments take on a scary dynamic, like a vibrating cloud of flies, distorted in the heat. It’s hard to avoid the magnetic pull of that turbine shackled hertz, or that accompanying tinsel soak from the cymbals, even the words seem to be dragging you through the dusty soil on mystic hooks. Something about skyscrapers blocking the sun, rivers of glass and footless aspirations to heaven…. drowsy words in the stoner buzz, as stray limbs scar the surface, delectable dislocations matching that beautiful murkiness of the cover art… but it really excels when everything is systematically pummelled, or when the vocal goes off on a devotional pilgrimage, and becomes a rich gravy of moan and clattering commune, coaxed into serpent shadows or stuffed into jackal skins… then it truly gets your appetite racing… You’d think this sort of transcendence couldn’t be sustained, until the second side bursts forward in explosive field recording, slipping easily into a menacing procession of wounded bass and drum kissed desertion … some lovely re-bounded chords are happened upon and stuck with, blooms alighting from the carcass, amp transformed into a deformed offspring slowly swallowed down stream – textural eye openers that chaff the inside of your skull in a sloth ache psych and trance-eaten sway, repetitive breathe spun. The tape cools off for the final two tracks in raga blisters, melodious wafers of drum, curling chants and sitar… peeling away the gloom in falling dew and hand spanned illumination. ======================================== The Obelisk By JJ Koczan April 2009 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. His guitar leaves trails. That's how you know it's psychedelic.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. ======================================== Doom Metal Alliance By Derek March 2009 I started listening to Queen Elephantine (previously featured on DMA Sampler Vol. 2) early last year after discovering their split with Sons Of Otis. There sound was fuzz drenched psych heavy stoner doom. So I must say I was rather suprised when I heard QE's second full length album. Rock and metal have been replaced with drone and ambience, and left to couple with the doom and psych. The end result being some of the craziest psych this side of Alan Watts' album "This Is It!" When I listen to this album, I cant help but hear soul searching. Indy if you didnt know was born in India. One of the first things you will hear is a heavy influence of what the common ear will recognize as East Indian folk music. Indy has told me that Kumar Gandharv (East Indian musician) was an influence. Since this conversation, I have realized that this influence has always been there. The songs average out at over 10 minutes each, and QE takes advantage of such long songs by creating natural progressions to the songs that without a doubt most people will miss out on as the songs are "boring" and not doom at all. Well, stop listening to bands like Earth if that is the case as Earth is the stand out comparison here. Not that they sound like Earth or anything. Its more just experiments with sound, creating a meditative approach to music. Think "Bees Made Honey" if it were recorded by the Beatles in India. Queen Elephantine has grown into their own with Kailash, but fear that it will be lost on many listeners. So let it be known that Enginear Billy Anderson mastered this piece of work, and Queen Elephantine is ready to unleash it on the world. ======================================== The Sleeping Shaman By Adam March 2009 Stoner droner mystics Queen Elephantine, the oft travelling Lords of (sonic) Lethargy, have produced yet another striking opus of snaking whirring trip rock (that isn't actually 'rock') that hums and glides through your addled brain like the dawning realisation that you are imprisoned in a cage of your own creation, from whence only you can free yourself. Garbled pseudo Buddhist ramblings aside, this is a new downloadable e-release (check their myspace page for details), recently mastered by Billy Anderson and waiting for a record label, that represents that exquisitely soporific QE sound, but dwelling in a more meditative dimension than the grand altered-state rock of previous album 'Surya'. What is immediately noticeable is the emphasis on the vocals. The wailing chants of opener "Search for the Deathless State" blend into the overall miasma of huge Earth-esque drone guitar, cymbal splashes and tabla flurries, which creates an expansive and sprawling sonic haze that rises like a deathbed mirage to envelop your nodding head and consequently dissolves your sense of ego in a hot sea of languid tranquility. Raj intones a fantastic piece of prose that beckons the closing of this monumental first track. In the hands of many musicians such a device would run a risk of sounding pretentious, but this man carries a vision and a conviction born of personal experience. "Gloaming" takes the Indian subcontinental influences even further with buzzing sitar drone, scattered tablas and vocals that bend and warp around one note like a bumble bee tied to a nail plunged into a table. The line "They're keeping me from me" (read what you will into it) is repeated over and over again as the track reaches its end. A short interlude of what sounds like a genuine sample of monks chanting in a temple gives way to the slow rising and eerie demon tainted soundscape of "The Vulture and the Creed", which along with the following track, "Priest", conjures up memories of very early Sonic Youth, Swans and the whole New York 'No Wave' scene. There is an experimental sparseness here and economy of sound that QE are only just beginning to explore, much to their artistic satisfaction. Perfect soundtrack music. "Godblood" follows with a similar feel to "Gloaming", ending with strangely unsettling pipes and slowly strummed acoustic chords. Last track "Khora" rises on a wave of droning vocals, sitar vibration and minimal percussion to close very quietly on just faintly blown pipes some fifteen minutes later. Thus ends this shimmering seventy minute long pilgrimage from spiritual East to materialistic West and back again. I suspect many lovers of the orthodox 'rock format' will tire of the meandering nature of this album quite quickly, but those of you with a yearning towards the more experimental may lap this up for what it is, a fascinating collection of pieces based upon the musical and philosophical influences of the cultures that have fermented for so many millennia from both the fertile soils of the Indus Valley and from the ancient cloud ringed kingdoms of the Himalayas, but played by musicians who have a deep appreciation for the droning aesthetics of classic bands like Earth and Sleep. QE are quite unique, but do benefit a liberal and patient ear, so if you own a pair of these, download it. I did feel tempted to end the review with a rather cheap and ethnocentric reference to fancying a curry, but I resisted. ======================================== Gradations of Morbidity By Chris Naughton March 2009 Named after the mythical Himalayan peak on which ‘The Destroyer’ dwells in the state of perpetual meditation, Kailash is the second full length record from New York/Providence based Queen Elephantine, and going off the perceptions of their recorded past it comes as quite a shock. Given they’ve been involved in splits with bands like the Sons of Otis, one would expect ‘Kailash’ to be a fuzzed out stoner/spacey riff driven affair, when the opposite is in fact the case. As a whole piece of work ‘Kailash’ is actually quite a mellow, experimental take on drone doom (although it’s difficult to say whether it’s even that!). Take opening track Search For The Deathless State for example which sets out the s t y l e for the rest of the album by using an interesting mix of minimal, ritualistic, trance inducing guitar drone over laid with interesting choral vocals and the odd spurt of mad ‘free’ percussion and creepy noises. As if that wasn’t stylistically weird enough, they also manage to incorporate dreamy, Slint-esque spoken word sections into the mix to their interesting ‘minimal drone’ formula. With that in mind it becomes clear that vocal-led minimalism seems to have been a key feature in the writing of this album. The culmination of this vocal use is The Vulture & The Creed which is an interesting track that is based around vocal drone & noise-scapes, reminding at times of Attila Csihar’s performances on latter day sunn O))) releases interspersed with controlled, ambient, yet noisy guitar work. While remaining minimal the writing on this occasion never seems to lack interest and by the time the record progresses through to the metallic, industrial swirl of Priest and the Desert Sessions/QOTSA feel of Godblood the drift that is Khora comes in calmly to wrap up the proceedings. Kailash is one of those ‘mood’ records in the sense that; if you are in the mood for it then it will engross you in a 70+ minute landscape of experimental drone and if not then the repetitive nature of some of the structures and intra-song style may become a little tiresome. Alas, this is an interesting album with some nice ideas and is definitely one of the more interesting drone based albums to come out in a while, even if it is more like free-jazz-vocal-drift than your typical Earth tribute. But, maybe that’s its selling point. [7.5/10] ======================================== Abandon Ship Records April 2009 Originally hailing from Hong Kong, this New York-based group is bringing something entirely new to the table. Hypnotic eastern-tinged drones create the backdrop for their dark and brooding vocals. Creating something truly unique, and definitely the first of it's kind on Abandon Ship. Keep an eye out for more from Queen Elephantine in the coming months. Their future is bright, although their sounds may not be!
Slays For Days Surya. It is the sound of a million bison slowly marching
thier way towards the Great Stoning of the Outer Dark and the Infinite
Chill. There are no survivors save one half bison, half man. He takes
the Crown of Thunder and places it atop his head. He speaks and a
thousand snakes come out his mouth. The snakes eat each other up
causing a great void. The great bison king shoots a most righteous
fireball out of his hand into the void and his throne is formed. ======================================== Descargarte Todo QUEEN ELEPHANTINE resulta
interesante por varias razones. Una
de ellas es que procedan de Hong Kong –aunque el
año
pasado su líder se radicó en Nueva York (EE.UU.)
y
reformó la banda. Por otro lado, ellos han sabido aprovechar
las
posibilidades que da la Internet para ponerse en contacto con otros
grupos y sellos, lo que es ha permitido, en pocos años,
grabar
sendos discos “split” con bandas stoner / doom /
sludge
como ELDER y SONS OF OTIS, ambos con buena crítica, y
participar
de varias compilaciones. Pero ¿Cómo suena? Suena como un mantra hindú cantado por los hijos ilegítimos de BLACK SABBATH; suena como si un grupo de músicos de Woodstock hubieran sido secuestrados por ovnis, llevados al desierto y abandonados a su suerte con muchos discos de drone y doom. Su música es lenta y pesada, hipnótica, repetitiva, psicodélica y densa. A través de los cuatro primeros temas, se van alternando atmósferas más meditativas y viajeras –que coinciden con las canciones más cortas- con ambientes más pesados y de ritmo más marcado. Ello sin que se produzca un contraste, sino una suerte de progresión en la que pasamos de lo pesado de “Ramesses II” –de 16 minutos de duración- a la densidad hipnótica de “Kabir”. El punto complejo, el “elefante blanco” del disco, lo constituye el último tema,“Bison”. Ya conocen la historia del elefante blanco: el rey que quiere perjudicar a un súbdito sin que se note y le regala un paquidermo albo; el súbdito agradece el exclusivo regalo, pero queda en la ruina por el elevado coste de mantener al trompudo animal. Acá sucede algo parecido: grabar un tema de 27 minutos, incluso en un disco destinado a un público al que podemos sospechar que el consumo de ciertas sustancias les conduce a buscar sonidos “cósmicos” y pegados, no deja de ser un riesgo. De parecer un puro relleno, de ser el peor tema del disco, de bajar el nivel justo al final. De todas formas, este “Bison” logra salvarse si te das el tiempo de sumergirte en sus sonidos. Buen disco debut, en resumen; para fans de SLEEP, YOB, OM, la sicodelia y los sonidos experimentales. No se recomienda escuchar sin tiempo disponible. ======================================== Doom-metal.com Surya is a sun deity in
the pantheon of an eastern religion,
Hinduism I believe. This is the first time I have had the chance to
listen to this bands work but I had read some good reviews about them
on the internet. I can't say that I have an extensive collection of
psychedelic stoner/doom albums, but to me they sound like Reverend
Bizarre covering Hawkwind. That is a good thing, as it translates to
long, slow, intriguing compositions. ======================================== ProgArchives.com 'Surya' is QUEEN
ELEPHANTINE's first full album. The band
started in Hong Kong but is situated in New York City in the meanwhile.
Guitarist Indrayudh Shome represents the main constant of the group.
The songs have a heavy psych origin and as for the characteristic
expression they are also featuring a special hypnotic mood based on
doom and stoner rock leanings. Look onto the rays of the new stoner sun rising ! ニューヨークの若きサイケデリックロックバンド、Queen
Elephantineの１stフルアルバム。元々は香港で結成されたバンドらしい（wiki)。Sons of
Otisとスプリットを出していたので、名前をご存知の方も多いと思います。アマゾンで取り扱いがないのでATHにて購入。 ======================================== Sea of Tranquility Imagining the earth as a vast, scorched, barren wasteland, inhibited by large, lumbering prehistoric creatures might give you a bit of a mental picture of what you're in for musically on this massive sounding release Surya from an outfit that goes by the name of Queen Elephantine, currently based out of New York City. Recorded just over a year ago in Hong Kong, Surya is just now seeing a proper CD release after previously only being available digitally and through a self issued CD-R. However you want to classify the music made by these four promising young musicians and we could use such typical words as stoner, doom, psych, sludge etc… the fact is this 5 song disc is an epic and sprawling collection of kick ass jams designed to penetrate the thickest cranium. The world of Queen Elephantine begins appropriately enough with the song named after their creators. This track commences with the hypnotic droning sound of a tanpura, before the thick, throbbing bass kicks in and light percussion along with the chant style vocals take over. The ritual has indeed begun. "Ramessess II" starts almost the same way with more droning tanpura, (in fact this instrument serves as an anchor for four out the five tracks on Surya) before bassist Daniel Quinn slams out another absolutely killer bass line. Before you know it the beast has lumbered off with guitarist Indrayudh (Indy) Shome in tow, providing more chanted vocals to match the equally colorful, psychedelic textures of his guitar playing. This monster which clocks in at an exhausting sixteen and half minutes is nothing short of pure, primal sludge that goes for broke and eventually threatens to self destruct by breaking into an all out freak out towards the end. Next up is "Kabir" which begins with light percussive touches and a slinky bass line, sounding briefly like a darker, murkier version of Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" before the tension gradually builds and morphs into something much more menacing. While the majority of the music on Surya could easily be dismissed as being fairly repetitious, I have to admit that this was initially a concern of mine after the first few spins. However, with more listens I came to appreciate the time it takes for these improvised jams to fully unfold. The compositions on Surya have such a fabulously hypnotic quality to them, primarily due to these drawn out and repetitive progressions, that the lines quickly blur from one track to the next. As if the band had intended to save the best for last, the final two tracks "Plasma Thaw" and "Bison" add up to an almost forty minute, unrelenting dose of pure ominous sounding ultra-heaviness. Out of the two "Plasma Thaw" is certainly the groovier track and probably the fastest on the album as far as tempo is considered. Straight out of the introductory count in, the band immediately locks into a super tight groove and then spends the next ten minutes carving through the murky fog. The hard hitting drums and furious percussion work really propels this one into the stratosphere. "Bison" on the other hand is a completely different ball of wax though. Expanding to almost thirty minutes this composition is a prime example of just how adept these guys are at crafting, slow, brooding songs that utilize the tension and release method to sheer perfection. Surya is an extremely impressive debut effort and one that will keep listeners enthralled from beginning to end. If your musical tastes run towards the sounds of early Sleep, Earth or even elements of Om , then Queen Elephantine should be able to comfortably secure a place somewhere between them on your CD shelf. ======================================== Heavy Planet Album of the Day ======================================== The Sleeping Shaman It is dusk upon the river Ganges. Your gap year has prematurely come to an end because you are sooooooo stoned on some killer grass you bought earlier from an entirely naked man covered in cattle shit, that you are utterly convinced that you will never ever move again. This is the music you are now hearing. Rippling sitars, snaking bass, deft percussion, distant vocals and warm and heavy electric guitars. It feels magical, unearthly, intangible, spiritual. You feel impossibly sick. It's going to be a long night. You should have listened to your mother and stayed in Grimsby. A full length self released album by this rare treat of an underground band, recorded in Hong Kong in 2007 and released earlier this year, and clocking in at a fittingly lengthy sixty six minutes. First track, 'Queen Elephantine' is built upon the punctuating repetition of an ominous and super fuzzed out bass riff. Gentle singing and flecks of guitar, sitar and percussion put shreds of meat upon rough hewn bones. It's a promisingly psychoactive opener, drifting like an abandoned boat. 'Ramesses II' continues this limp limbed journey. Danny Quinn's bass is the only aggressive element at work here, loud in the mix, boldly distorted and played with concentrated attack. All other sounds, including Indy Shome's soft yearning semi-chants, are at once peripheral and central. Like all the best drug music, it just depends on what YOU choose to focus on. After the ten minute mark the jamming gets free and loose and noisier, and then dies to a lurch, the skilful drums of Michael Scott Isley taking command and changing tempo, hitting hard on the fills, the whole band picking up urgency and power, ending in a climax of numb exaltation to the magic of a world long since dead. Paralysis ensues with the lilting stoner riff of 'Kabir' that coils out and stretches off into the sunset until Indy breaks into a glistening instrumental. No singing on this one, just four men jamming around a cluster of notes, heads nodding in blissful unison. 'Plasma Thaw' continues the jam. Half chanted vocals float up through the air, yet again everything pin pointed by the driving bass riff. The drums are busy in the background, adding a certain urgency to this track. The last track is 'Bison', a great sludgy semi-instrumental dirge that moves away from their usual eastern influenced riffs and instead plows a more discordant avant-rock furrow, gently nodding away as the bass belches out minimal notes, sounding more 'western' than 'eastern'. This is also a more sparse affair than the previous tracks, with plenty of time given to space within the song, but unfortunately never really achieves the lazy yet focused momentum or fluid exoticism of the rest of the album. Out of all the tracks this is the most experimental and the least successful, and, at nearly thirty minutes long, feels like it could have been left off. QE's sound is languid, stoned and sensuous, evocative of the non-western environment in which much of it was no doubt conceived. I, for one, can't help but dig their murky lo-fi production because a). it sounds like they recorded it in a rotting Cambodian temple, and b). you can't really pin down their attractively weird, amorphous sound, which kind of gives QE the X-factor lacking in much contemporary 'rock' music. Incidentally, I'd like to see these lot on X-factor, jamming in front of Cowell, staring hard at the audience through a dense fug of marijuana smoke. ======================================== Terrascope A heady mixture of eastern strings and heavy bass sounds, Queen Elephantine, take a trip into the mystic on their album “Surya”, chanted vocals mixed low making you listen closely, the music spiralling around you. Surely music for deep meditation, the slow and languorous feel is maintained, even when the band crank it up such as on the hypnotic and lengthy “Ramesses II”. Final track “Bison” is a Hapshash meeting The Serpents, a 27 minute tumble through space and time, the primitive feel of the piece adding to the mystery. ======================================== Grey Day SOBRE LA BANDA: ME GUSTA: ME DISGUSTA: MEJORES TEMAS: ULTIMAS PALABRAS: ======================================== Ondalternativa.it "Surya"rappresenta il passo mediatico dall'esistenza al letargico divenire dell'impeto umano che racchiude in cinque soli pezzi l'ultimo album dei Queen Elephantine. Un gruppo di cinque esploratori del mondo della heavy psichedelica. Un lungo cammino dell'underground newyorkese moderno. Il disco registrato nella visionaria Hong Kong rappresenta la giusta interpretazione odierna del concetto di musica catartica e purificatoria,la quale conduce l'uomo ad un vero e proprio circolo violento a tratti dolce e liberatorio,a tratti sconvolgente quasi tutto il turbine della coscienza umana. Un vero e proprio space jam di effetti sonori,protagonista sempre lo stesso serpente pronto a mordersi la coda. Seppur le melodie rimangano pressochè e costantemente le medesime,risulta un vero e proprio rito mistico dalle sinfonie viziose.gruppo. Un viaggio tra etniche percussioni in un lento e soffice "bass groove" dedicato all'intera naturalezza che è in grado di possedere solo chi,in virtù di quell'anima musicale dominata dal mistero per la vita,può udire il suono.Un'intera melodia vocale avvolta da un intero "drone" non cambia,è sempre uguale nella sua durata,e pare così strano come possa catturarci e succhiarci in quello strato di suoni che sovrapponendosi l'uno sull'altro ci conduca ad una luce in cui la fase iniziatica ricorda parecchio l'effetto degli Om in "At Giza". Il ritmo ipnotico del basso,accompagnato dalla forza austera e solenne della sezione percussionistica,caratterizza,finanche elevare,il suono della seconda traccia dell'album:"Ramesess II".Il basso volume vocale,grazie al tono oscuro e profondo,espande un' eco tetra sull'atmosfera tutta del pezzo:una coltre di male,leggera e trasparente,sembra posarsi su esso.Lo svolgimento è piacevole;la chitarra sembra riuscire ad andare oltre ordini e leggi prestabilite ed immutabili;in una tempesta caotica in cui il tutto si risolve.Il pezzo apre la fase psichedelica dell'intero album in uno spazio rock rumoroso ed eccitante.Soprattutto alla fine,quando tutto è stanco e la voce ristagna un'eco dolorosa,i suoni giungono all'estrema lacerazione. "Kabir"è la terza rappresentazione desertica dell'album. Un altro esercizio a ripetizioni che scattano come arma sull'intera e avvolgente melodia. Una danza tra movimenti a volte rapidi a volte più tranquilli. Un vero e proprio groove circle tra doppi colpi di percussioni e tamburi,i quali fanno di questo piccolo kit di tagliente artiglieria un'arma che scova nella profondità più ricca della sensibilità umana. Una visione abbastanza "peyote" che ricorda le criptiche note blues dei Kyuss. Un suono che ci riporta al deserto dei Mammatus,o addirittura all'effervescente temperamento mistico dei Comets On Fire. Il catartico rito di liberazione si plasma,ed ecco "Plasma Thaw".Rivela il lato più pesante e toccante dei QE. Una serpentina bufera che si perpetua in una lunghezza assai epica e trascendentale. Un tortuoso gioco di riffs pesanti che ricordano parecchio una gerusalemmica visione musicale ritrovabile nel giro dell'Holy Mountain degli Sleep.Una nebbia,una foschia mistica che porterebbe ad un'unica direzione,verso la concezione atomica della purezza del tempo.Non è facile poter comprendere quanto sia possibile entrare a far parte di una concezione cosi sbandata e pronta a colpire i punti più delicati dell'essere umano.E'una corda a filo teso,che vibra muovendosi in un'aria arida,che solo il deserto è in grado di poter decimare. Il disco termina sulle note di "Bison" lo sciamanico pezzo contributo ai vecchi collaboratori della band canadese "Sons Of Otis".Il suono è distorto,ritorna sempre il giro ipnotico in attesa di dare facili risposte al misterioso fascino che avvolge l'intera esperienza.Bisogna trascendere il tutto e trovarsi in un'altra dimensione. E'un buco nel vento in cui l'ordinaria fenomenologia non è in grado di accedere. Lo stato dei riffs anche qui si ripropone con un salto nel buio in grado di poter svegliare quelle zone paludose e oscure che invadono la mente. Il loro debutto,grazie alla realizzazione artistica di quest'album (assieme,ovviamente,alle grafiche delle copertina dell'album) mi hanno molto impressionata e resa particolarmente partecipe di questi enormi paesaggi psichedelici. In queste rumorose pianure in cui si disperde un suono incessante che libera la mente da quel castigo in cui persevera e agisce silenziosa. Consiglio quest'album a tutti coloro che hanno bisogno di una boccata d'aria proprio per sentirsi liberi e sani nella genuinità nei confronti della vita. Per coloro che considerano la musica un fenomeno capace di trascendere l'esperienza ordinaria delle cose. Un giusto modo per risvegliarsi e ritrovare se stessi. ======================================== KvltSite I remember when Jayaprakash heard Om for the first time last year without prior knowledge of Sleep's existence, he said the grooves reminded him a lot of early Pink Floyd. I frankly never saw it that way but here's a band that's doing something a lot more like he'd mentioned. Queen Elephantine is a band, having its origins in Hong Kong and now based in NYC, consisting of four teens making a name for themselves in their local scene. They also recently put out a split with the mighty Sons of Otis. I've not heard that yet, but after a few thorough listens of their self-released debut album Surya, they certainly deserve a record label to fund the production, help them put out a fully packaged album (this comes in a CD-R with a cool sleeve) and render them the distribution. The sound is somewhat easy to describe if you're already familiar with what I said in the first paragraph. Queen Elephantine does extended psychedelic jams with unsophisticated repetitive grooves. They have this tanpura sound to go with their chanty vocal lines and the fuzzed out psychedelic jams. Warming up with a brooding 5 note doom groove over 5 minutes, the song 'Queen Elephantine' doesn't go all crazy with the jams yet. It all peaks on 'Ramesses II', the sixteen minute monster song that's pretty much the centerpiece of the album. I especially dig the bit that sounds like a dirged out Led Zep riff. 'Kabir' is all about this one long hypnotic riff and the way the rest of the band play around it for a good 6 minutes. 'Plasma Thaw' is the most Sleep-sounding song on the album with a monstrous doom riff and some wild drumming. After some trippy sounds that made the speakers jar, the band eventually get back to the thundering main riff and jamming some more before ending the song. The twenty six minute epic 'Bison' eventually draws the album to a close but not before intentionally rambling with help from a rock-steady riff, spacey sounds and noisy drones. This would be their most unique song on the album. Good album, though the production needs a lot of work. They're working on a new album and are still hunting for a label to put it out. In the mean time, you can get a copy of this CD-R for cheap or download their latest EP for free from their website. It sounds heavier and more evolved than Surya from the one listen I gave it, so go for it by all means. ======================================== Get Off My Elevator If I say a band from China, what would you think? Don't think my friend, that's why we are here, for you don't have to think. This Queen Elephantine is a rare "a la" Colour Haze experimental fully instrumental thing...., another "must have" from the GOME fellows, stay around. ======================================== Deaf Sparrow Zine This is a great record. And in the methodical, stellar, emotional and astral plane, Surya is to me as good as Om’s latest Pilgrimage. It is also rougher, less detailed, choppier, looser, more rustic, more excessive, fatter, and longer. Surya drones spliff in hand and entrances in a deeper and more monotonous fashion, but with that approach it also holds you tighter to its bass-centric core. For the whole duration of Surya, this New York quartet (that’s where they reside but Queen Elephantine came together in Hong Kong) seems to channel the post Sleep mantra of Al Cisneros and the guitar tonalities of a pubescent Josh Homme. Of the first one they have taken (some might say stolen, but this is good so fuck it) the sense of jamming, the free flowing vibe that carries good stoner doom outside of rock parameters, and from the latter they have taken the exact tuning (especially during the solos) that made of Kyuss’ such legends. Queen Elephantine have studied the stuff, and as premeditated as Surya may be, the 5 songs that comprise it are a plain lesson on how to bend two or three notes into innumerable shapes. Surya is massive in all fronts; recorded in the land of Jackie Chan it serves to its advantage that its lo fi qualities add a timeless warm tone to the whole recording. Wise move, as that sound adds to the band’s fat ass bottom. And it needs the weight as the songs extend over ten, and in the case of “Bison” , the thirty minutes. These tunes are at times insisting and moving at others groovy and always psychedelic. If they stay together, Queen Elephantine might have a great future. Not sure how old these guys are, but pictures on their MySpace present a teenage looking quartet. And a generous one at that; while they are recording their new album (Kailash) Queen Elephantine is offering a two-song EP for free download at their MySpace page. Yeah, it’s two songs and together they total over forty minutes so no whining allowed. ======================================== Organ Magazine ALBUM OF THE WEEK ======================================== Born In Blood Forums 2008 Albums to check out: ======================================== HeavyHell.pl W zasadzie ta sama liga co tegoroczny Jex Thoth. Równie? ho?dowanie przesz?o?ci, podobne ?rodki, jednak istot? tej muzyki s? inne za?o?enia. Ju? od pierwszego, i?cie stapletonowskiego, orientalnego drone'u i wej?cia sekcji wiadomo, ?e b?dzie transowo, psychodelicznie. Czu? ducha Amon Duul II, aczkolwiek tu jest wi?cej transu, mniej kombinacji... Na wst?pie odradzam s?uchanie myspace, gdy? te wa?ki si? powoli rozkr?caj? i w?a?ciwie ms nie daje odpowiedniego pogl?du na spraw?. Mam takie dziwne wra?enie, ?e gdyby to doci??y?, to momentami brzmia?oby jak Neurosis Mruga Generalnie warto pos?ucha? takiego Ramesses II aby zobaczy? jak w ostatniej minucie robi si? przepi?kna d?wi?kowa burza. A? mi sie Acid Mothers Temple przypomnia? Mruga Przyjemna, poprawna rzecz. Takie 7/10. Wydali to na CDR - 7,50 $ z wysy?k?. My?l?, ?e warto sie zainteresowa?. ======================================== Cloud Magoon Ever heard about people that take drugs to make music to take drugs to? (Yeah! I know it´s almost the same as the album title that SPACEMEN 3 gave one of their splendid albums back in the days). For me QUEEN ELEPHANTINE - SURYA embodys that precise impression on me, regardless if they take drugs or not this is one piece of heavy-psychedelia. But i would also call it easylistening because of the reason that it isent any traces of aggression in the music. It feels like a laidback jamsession perfect for deep meditation. The riffs are so intense, come in waves together with a extremely relaxed rhytms, the vocals are mellow and delivers just enough to push the songs further, it´s pure, organic and gives me a rush of pure wellbeing! This album really fits the meaning of "MEDITATION WITH MEDICATION". NEXT LISTENING IS GOING TO BE WITH BONG IN HAND! ======================================== Stonerrock.com Best described as a sprawling psychedelic space jam, Surya is the full-length debut of Queen Elephantine and a crushingly impressive follow-up to recent split-albums with Sons of Otis and Elder. Queen Elephantine's formidable contributions to those records were weighty works themselves, but a mere sampling of what they could do on their own. Surya's five tracks stretch out to over an hour, as the band lives up to its name and presents a perfect soundtrack to the unwieldy march of a mystical elephant caravan across the celestial plains. They melt down the sounds of Black Sabbath, Sleep, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, early Monster Magnet, and a variety of other influences into a cosmic swamp all their own, populated by droning numbers like the self-titled lead off track and lumbering epics such as the 16-and-a-half-minute "Ramesses II," which rumbles along almost religiously with its chanted lyrics and smoky atmosphere until the pace picks up for its swirling climax. The Middle Eastern influence of the instrumental "Kabir" provides a trippy interlude before "Plasma Thaw" swings in on a monstrous groove reminiscent of the usual suspects from the '70's and doesn't let up, definitely the catchiest song on the album. "Bison" closes the record at a mammoth 27 minutes and 24 seconds, an expansive sonic journey that never gets boring or monotonous. The layers upon layers of hypnotic rhythms and molasses riffs, enhanced by the jammed-out feeling throughout Surya should please fans of bands like Sons of Otis, Mammatus, Acid Mothers Temple, Ufomammut, and Om. The band is still in search of a record label to release the album as a physical entity, rather than its current digital format, but Queen Elephantine won't be denied for long as they continue their trek to the throne of heavy space-rock royalty. ======================================== Doomed To Be Stoned In A
Sludge Swamp The elephant trudges on and on, devastating all in it's path... ======================================== Rompiendo Huesos Queen Elephantine son uno
de los secretos mejor guardados del
underground Stoner/Doom que poco a poco empiezan a salir a la luz. ======================================== Hellride
Music/Stonerrock.com Queen Elephantine is a group of young explorers in the world of heavy psychedelia, and ‘Surya’ is their first full-length, coming hot on the heels of various split releases and such in the past year or two. ‘Surya’ is a long, contemplative trip into the world of inner visions, a journey in which the devotional merges with the visionary to stake out a unique corner of the musical underground. ‘Surya’ begins with ‘Queen Elephantine,’ a lurching, meditational drone with plenty of heavy, distorted bass; a recipe the group uses to its advantage throughout the album. The song builds very slowly, offering visions that are somehow relaxed yet filled with anxiety, bringing to mind a space voyage with a crash landing on a far planet, where the alien sands drift quietly over blurry shapes both bizarre and sinister. ‘Ramesses II’ is a desert mirage of jerky military rhythms and monks offering devotional chanting that builds into the wails of lost souls. ‘Plasma Thaw’ is more rawkin’, while the 27+ minute ‘Bison’ is as thunderous as its namesake, with leaving-the-rails blues-based thrashing reminiscent of English cult doom/sludge outfit Ramesses. This tune pushes Queen Elephantine territory out further, with various plodding sludgy riffs creating a claustrophobic blues hell colonized by nasty Tibetan demons of every des c r i p tion. Lovers of heavy psychedelic doom or drone as manifested by groups as wide-ranging as Sleep, Acid Mother’s Temple, Mammatus, YOB, and even ‘Saucer’-era Floyd should climb aboard with these young musicnauts. It’s not a comfortable or easy trip by any means, but it will reward your (lysergic) attention. ======================================== Prognotfrog.com OKEY!!! Some days ago we recived an e-mail with a link with a band that was so heavy that I couldn't wear headphones while I was listening caus it would be hard to hold my head up. It sounds like OM or Sleep but with 5ives speed. But a lot more psychadelic. It's really hard to compare with something cause these guys sounds really new and fresh. Their first full length album is a limited edition so get it now before someone else do it! ======================================== Hellride Music The Queen Elephantine story continues to grow with this limited edition CDR of their upcoming debut full-length “Surya”. QE visionary Indy Shome started out this project in Hong Kong (where this album was recorded) but has since crossed the Atlantic to find residence in New York. It is there that he will begin to carve his mark across the United States with QE which now boasts a new line-up that features Andy Jude Riotto (Agnosis, Tides Within) on bass alongside Chris Diaz who pounds the skins and Rajkishen Narayanan being responsible for vocals and noise. This current QE roster will be embarking on an upcoming weekend tour that will hit Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania, so what better time to get yourself acquainted with this album! The album was recorded by the older line-up and features 5 new cuts from this psychedelic behemoth. Much like their split mates Elder, they are seeking representation to get this disc out there. Honestly if you’ve got a label, I say pick both of these phenomenal acts up as a package deal and go to town! QE boasts a sound that gravitates largely towards expansive, psychedelic rock that also incorporates doom, stoner rock and drone into its all encompassing tapestry. The hypnotic, repetitive riffs literally float above a cloudy fortress of overdriven bass lines and atmospheric drumming. Vocals are still mostly in the chanted, slightly sung ballpark and they have only gotten better as well. The sucking vacuum created by opener, “Queen Elephantine” gets things started out on a very trippy foot. Light, tribal percussion pulsates softly beneath the dense bass groove and ethnic drone that is topped off with spacious, overlapping vocal melodies that all combine into a mesmerizing mix. The song really never changes up drastically throughout its duration but it is the layered sounds and how they combine with each other that make it so memorable. The plodding, “Ramesses II” is a slow-burning number that is just over 16 minutes long. I actually pulled out the split with Elder to make sure I’m not going batty but this version is not the same one that was on the split. I’m not sure if it is directly involved with any of the four parts of “Ramesses” on that split but maybe I’m going crazy. In any case this song is an awe-inspiring piece of work that builds on a strong drum and bass foundation with deeply chanted vocals in the beginning that open up into more traditionally sung vocals later on in certain places of the track. The guitar work builds nicely throughout; unfolding leisurely while becoming increasingly more psychedelic by the second. The track also boasts an appropriately bombastic finale that seems to stop and start several times before exploding with noisy space-rock and distant vocals that tie everything together nicely at the very end. The desert baked groove of “Kabir” follows next and is another exercise in using repetition as the ultimate weapon. The track maneuvers its way around a solid, continuous groove that dances between louder moments and quieter, trancelike textures. The double shot of percussion that features both drums and back-up artillery creates a rich depth to the song that wouldn’t have been entirely there had only a traditional kit been employed. The psychedelic guitar leads sound like Kyuss lost on a peyote vision quest as the bass provides the necessary blues injected rumble. A cryptic sample ends this instrumental piece on an especially barren note. Seriously, this song melds the desert feel of Kyuss with a great spacey template employed by the likes of past greats like Camel or Caravan tempered by the more modern effervescence of Comets on Fire and Mammatus. “Plasma Thaw” brings out a bit of the heavier, doom-y side of QE. It is another epic length track that builds on a looping groove that features a heavier than thou riff that is serpentine in its winding heaviness. I feel a bit of Sleep in this one for sure. It has the long drawn out qualities of the “Jerusalem” era but manages to find a more sizeable groove in the vein of “Sleep’s Holy Mountain”. An arid midsection casts a mystical haze over which possible direction the song might head before they slam down on you with a thunderous riff one last time. The drumming on this one is particularly hard-hitting and the overall crush factor is at an all time high for these Elephantine lads as they set out to decimate you with sheer atomic weight. The sprawling, “Bison” brings this disc to a close and it is somewhat in the vein of their gigantic contribution to the Sons of Otis split. The song wanders in a steadfast, deliberate manner with a foreboding mess of distorted, droning chords that lock into a hypnotic shuffle that isn’t in any hurry to give you the easy answers to its mystery. There are a few shifts in sound and the overall effect lulls you into a comatose, dreamlike state where the distorted riffs bounce around the catacombs of your mind. This is a great debut record from QE. I was very impressed by their two splits and just like Elder, they have grown by leaps and bounds which is perfectly illustrated on this debut record. These songs are huge, psychedelic landscapes that you can get lost wandering forever amongst their vast plains of noise, space-rock and doom. Fans of the really heady, space jams would do well to check out QE. This is an awesome disc and hopefully someone will wise up and release this and the new Elder album. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of this CDR until a label steps forth and delivers the goods. I can’t wait to see these guys in December is all I know based on the strength of everything I’ve heard so far.
YATRA ..and... TO TARTARUS (UNRELEASED
7") The
Sleeping Shaman Imagine the eldritch and arcane sound of a cultish band of blind, hooded, albino acolytes, engrossed within their eerie sonic witch-mantra, performing before a vast cyclopean temple of ice-cold basalt, jutting forth into an alien sky of pure indigo, triple moons illuminating the sickly fungus encroaching every shining edifice, built by some insane crustacean race at non-Euclidean angles a millennia before the great lizards ruled the earth. That band is Queen Elephantine. Mystic, doomed, beautiful. Two e-releases here, put out by the band themselves on their website and available as free downloads, and may I say, both are definitely worth listening to if you like drugs and stoner-trance-drone. In fact, you don't even need the drugs, they're an optional addition if you feel up to it. I just had a cup of tea and a flapjack. Q.E. are a rather exotic and cosmopolitan collective originally formed in Hong Kong as teenage droners just a few years ago and are now based in New York. They recorded both these releases as a four piece but they've had a bit of a loose line-up history with members floating in and out like sorcerers on flying carpets. The current band revolves around the writing duo of "Indy" Shome and Rajkishen Narayanan (both handle guitars, vocals and various other instruments). 'Yatra' was released this spring and comprises two long and meditatively structured tracks. 'Droning Earth' starts with a few seconds of feedback and breaks into a lazy and buzzing guitar riff. Far away sounding vocals then enter the mix (and proceed to distort and modulate at various points), followed by undulating bass and cymbal heavy percussion and proceeds to build for the next twenty minutes. Occasionally the main riff drops out, and sometimes the drumming, to allow space for general guitar improvisation and feedback. 'Chariot in Solemn Procession' is an even more beautiful piece of music. Thirteen minutes of droning after-life trance, the bass pulsing, the vocals, harsher than the last track, wailing in places and almost chanting in others. On both tracks I hear what sounds like the wobbling drone of a sitar, buzzing and humming in the background. The production is rough and lo-fi which really suits the music. 'To Tartarus' was recorded for a 7" that never was, and was released for download this summer. The five minute title track is a slowburning and brooding instrumental (as are all the tracks here), featuring menacing distortion, a touch of slide guitar, and subtle, understated percussion on the toms. 'Nagin' is under a minute long and features shrill pipes and percussion, and feels like some kind of long forgotten tribal music from somewhere deep within the lost rain-forested valleys of Asia. 'Mirage' is solemn strummed chords, bass, and the merest hint of percussion. It sets a sombre tone that reminded me of my own mortality, and my place in the universe as an infinitesimally tiny spec of sweet fuck-all. Q.E. have created some genuinely moving and deeply 'spiritual' music here, and the feeling of narcotic other-worldliness is definitely enhanced by the murky production. Sure, one can detect the various influences; traditional Asian folk music based around pentatonic scales, Indian ragas, the ambient drone doom of Earth and Sunn0))), stoner rock and even classic late sixties/early seventies psychedelia like late period Thirteenth Floor Elevators, plus a hot lazy desert Josh Homme/Kyuss kind of vibe. This band have a very special feel to them, a heady brew of eastern notes dancing and snaking around a central droning riff that anchors each song to a central point of psychic audio-focus. On paper I've heard it before, but listening to it in my living room is a simply riveting experience. Mightily impressive. Download from http://queenelephantine.clfrecords.com/music.htm. ======================================== Sputnik
Music Queen Elephantine’s latest EP, Yatra, takes the plodding desert camel ride aesthetic of their debut full-length, 2007’s ode to Hindu sun goddess Surya, and pushes it further into the dry barren fringe of narcotic lo-fi stoner drone. It is also their most accomplished work so far, with a line-up overhaul after a base change from Hong Kong to New York City, and featuring some of the best improvisatory modal psychedelia yet to come from the group. There are many obvious changes in sound here. The first thing is the lack of the auxiliary percussionist who colored Surya’s plodding beats with additional washes of cymbals and exotic bongo patterns. In place of the dual percussionists of releases past stands only one man behind the kit, New Yorker Chris Dialogue. His rhythms are deceptively layered and nuanced, but more importantly, his switches from gargantuan cymbal-smashing ferocity to placidly propulsive groove add a whole new level of dynamic intensity to the band’s music. The music still carries the exotic punch of the past, however. The Eastern sensibilities of the band manifest themselves in the meditative drone climaxes that characterize both tunes, and “Chariot in Solemn Procession” brings back the familiar tanpura drone from previous releases. It’s used brilliantly, creating a hypnotic swirl over which the band paints its most imposing doom epic yet. The climax sees a pulsing, bassy groove explode into overdriven chaos and Sleep-esque anthemic chants while the stolid, unflinching tanpura drills its presence into your head. Opener “Droning Earth” is a two-part epic, beginning with licks of feedback that transmute into a thunderous fuzz riff, laying the seeds for a groove which the band will explore infinitely over the next ten minutes, leaving no sun-drenched stone unturned, no meticulous, consciousness-altering repetition unfulfilled. The vocals in the first section maneuver the riff with an addicting, stoned swagger as if Queens of the Stone Age's most seductive tendencies were married with swathes of mutating feedback. The second section abandons the up-front presence of vocals for a towering instrumental jam that pulses with tribal urgency and marries cosmic Pink Floyd-esque aspirations with endless deserts and a focus on channeling the mysteries of the bold red sun. The guitar riffs are meandering in an exploratory sense, using simple motifs to establish the world and then going off and exploring from there. The bass work is also far more adept than in the past; and, while lacking the outright monolithic fuzz presence of Surya, the syrupy groove with which the bassist slinks through these songs locks in with the drums for a rhythm section that grabs you by the throat and propels you to the frontline of these monolithic marches. Queen Elephantine purveys a new era of doom/drone metal in the tradition of star-gazing doom acts like Ufomammut. But more importantly the group traverses other realms of musical exploration in a way similar to the Six Organs of Admittance ilk, with their merging of Eastern and Western flavors to a bed of psychedelic aspiration. ======================================== Cloud
Magoon The first time i ever heard QUEEN ELEPHANTINE was when i was living in MALAGA for a while, i dropped by a cool recordstore that had a new split cd whit SONS OF OTIS/QUEEN ELEPHANTINE. I have been listening allot to SONS OF OTIS before and likewise bands through the years but i immedietly got hooked to what QUEEN ELPHANTINE delivered, their music impressed me by their own unique kind of way of mixing the heavyness of drone with the laidback feeling of a stoney psychedelic rock-jazz-jam. I felt like, yes! Finally there is a band that knows how to jam the shit out of it like no other, that kind of music that let..s you, me, the listerner to wander of to oblivion and beyond and just indulge the massive experince that these musician..s certainly let you do! Get..s you in to trance while you are headbanging your head into deep sleep with a big smile on your face. If you ever heard QUEEN ELPHANTINE before you know what it..s all about, plenty of room to breath and a athmosfhere that is perfectely combined with lots of toxic smoke etc. When they released SURYA i cant explain the overwhelmingly feelings i got, nothing else then- NICE, FUCKING NICE !!! Been listening to SURYA on repeat too long, but sudenly QUEEN ELEPHANTINE released YATRA, a great album free to download at their homepage, they definetely showed themself worthy of being the masters of heavy psychrock, QUEEN ELEPHANTINE is not just a band, there the new leader of a new generation of heavy psychrock, i am really excited about their fortcomming new album Kailash and what it will show to the non belivers!
Roadburn This split is an interesting mixture of the dense, blues-heavy Sons of Otis and more experimental, tribal-sounding Queen Elephantine. Both bands succeed in creating a similarly trippy vibe, just in radically different ways. The two Otis tracks are a fairly good introduction to the band's main styles. Opener "Tales of Otis" represents their dark, ambient and disturbing side with a droning bass riff and minimal drumming augmented by echoing guitar shrieks and wails drifting in and out of earshot. The second Otis track "Oxazejam" is a scorching example of the finest electric blues playing this side of Robin Trower saturated with Baluke's heavy and warm tones and soulful playing. "Oxazejam" is a seamless mesh of halcyon Otis solos flowing together into a heady 9 minute whole. Queen Elephantine's single 25-minute monster rounds out the EP with mantra-like drumming and bass slowly propelling the tribal vibes of the track along. The drumming is what really keeps this soundscape moving through its different sequences of minimal bass and ambient space through to chanted vocal sequences and odd guitar interludes. Very satisfying and an excellent counterpart to Otis' heaviness. ======================================== Nat Records ?gu?L?|{?A??q?a`?Oe^?oe?h?A??q???q-???e?t?@??g?????e?e?LCanadian heavy spacy doom?o??g?hSONS OF OTIS?I?L3,4?hN?U?e`?I`?????[?X! ????g?o?[?I?L2?l?E?L?E`?A?L?A?N?U?N??E???e??oeI?N?i?L?c???I`?\h?e^?e?L?g(C)?OEcosmic doom blues????g?O?i??g?o?[2?qE`?u^?^! ???`?I`?a?L?e`?o??g?hQUEEN ELEPHANTINE?I?L25?oe??E?L?a`?qy?O^mantra drone doom?i??g?o?[1?qE`?A??qOM?`HOLY MOUNTAIN?OE?[?x??q?I`?t?@??g?E?L?I?X?X???A??q??E! ?eS3?qE`?gu?N?e`(?C??g?X?g)/43?oe? ======================================== Doom-metal.com A really massive heavyweight of a split. It starts with 'Tales Of Otis' by Sons Of Otis, which is a track full of incredibly slow and slightly unnerving riffage. While most of their previous works have been very stoner influenced, this would come closer to being a mixture of doom/sludge and doom/drone. The attitude is very dark and slightly agressive. In fact, this is pretty much the same kind of music that Corrupted make. The main difference would be that this track has no vocals. The second track is more in their usual style, though still without vocals. The riffage is much less deep and jams along in a very spaced manner. High as a kite, in other words. In addition, it must be said that the melody line is incredibly relaxing while at the same time tickling the air guitar lobe in the stoner fan's mind. Clearly one of the most far out tracks in the doom/stoner genre. Exactly what any Sons Of Otis fan would be looking for. The far out music on 'Oxazejam' is a perfect passage over to Queen Elephantine's track. While they have only half as many tracks as the direct descendants of Otis, 'The Battle OF Massacoit (The Weapon Of The King Of Gods)' lasts a whole 26 minutes and that's nearly ten minutes more than the other two tracks combined. The music is nearly as high as on 'Oxazejam', but less stonery and more droning. An interesting aspect of the music is that the regular drumwork is supplemented with what sounds like a set of bongo drums. The track even ends with the bongo drums jamming it out in a solo. It really gives the track a slightly Middle Eastern feeling. The vocals are very slow and does sound a bit drunk or drugged. All in all a very relaxing track that make you feel like you're floating around above a desert on the back of a slightly psychadelic camel. The music from both bands fit really good together, giving the overall feeling of the split a comfortably holistic tinge. This wouldn't have been a big thing if the bands had more active and more intensely chaotic music. However, when the music is this relaxed and as chaotic in the same way an etheral wave would be, then good continuation is very welcome. Most importantly for my verdict, it enables the music to become really pleasant music for relaxation. And that's exactly what I would recommend it as. If you want something far out to allow your mind to wander, then this is probably a very good choice. ======================================== Stonerrock.com I've cooled on Sons of Otis since I first heard and was captivated by Songs for Worship years ago. I can't remember when the last time I listened to their last album, X, let alone if I still own it. So hearing that the band had taken a break from losing another drummer to record some new songs with upstarts Queen Elephantine wasn't exactly something that set my world afire. While their two tracks on this split won't send the band back to the top of my priority list, it does remind me of what I liked about them in the first place, in particular “Oxazejam.” Neither that or “Tales of Otis” is all-out heavy, but they're dense songs, and they both have that bluesy, soup-like psychedelia that the band's known for. Put it this way - if you could make psilocybe gravy, it would taste like Sons of Otis. As for Queen Elephantine, they have only one song, but at 25 minutes, it's enough. Of all the material I've heard, “The Battle Of Massacoit (The Weapon Of The King Of Gods)” is the definitely the strongest. It's very low key in mood, a sort of a simmering drone that at the end encroaches Om territory (vocally, that is). I'm not sure if this is the case, but it sounds like it was recorded live. All in all, it's a good slice of psychedelic drone. Fans of that take notice. ======================================== Hong
Kong Magazine One of a rare handful of cross-Pacific split albums, this joint venture between Toronto's Sons Of Otis and Hong Kong teen prodigies Queen Elephantine will prove a morose delight for fans on either side of the stoner/doom rock divide. It's an instrumental album comprised of only three songs, each of more than substantial length (Queen Elephantine's single track, "The Battle of Massacoit," lasts a good 26 minutes). Granted, some vocals do find their way into Elephantine's contribution, but they somehow sound more instrumental than many of the instruments themselves. While Otis are clearly intended to provide the album's selling point, having amassed a 12-year reputation as prime purveyors of doom-laden psychedelia, one could argue that it's Elephantine who tip the scales here. The band couldn't be more aptly named. After experiencing the sheer heaviness that emanates from their epic soundscape track, you'll be shocked to learn that it was recorded live – at HKIS of all places (and guys, while we're all for keeping it real, perhaps that last piece of info didn't need to be mentioned on the inlay.) This is doom rock and its brooding, soul-striping best. Not to be listened to if you're having a good day. Sounds like: Grim reapers hanging out in an autumn forest. ======================================== AntiMusic.com If the expression, "speed kills," proves true sonically as well as automotively, then welcome to your musical crash helmet. The particular brand of slow, goopy, metal known as Doom has long strained every guitar string and bass drum in it's collective arsenal to achieve new feats of heaviness, usually at the expense of any sense of getting on with it. Since the mid-90's when "Stoner Rock" began to partner up with Doom, Sons of Otis have been lurking somewhere in a dark basement of the underground, with cohorts like Electric Wizard and Sleep, making that soupy recipe of wonderful, snail paced, practically unconscious Metal. Their latest offering makes its way slowly to your speakers in the form of a split CD with Queen Elephantine, another similarly minded band with Orange amps and no watches. The release has no particular title, although the catchy little phrase: "War is Good Business, Invest your Sons," does adorn the inside of the cover. One can only speculate if this has any meaning within the music or if the bands have just included that for us to ponder in any free time we, the intrepid listeners, can scrape together while not plowing through an ocean of quicksand riffs and the dense fog of distortion quickly filling the room. Still, not a bad buy at three songs…three songs clocking in around forty-five minutes. Sons of Otis start things off with two songs. Those familiar with the band's previous work will almost certainly wonder at seeing the running times for the two songs, if this is a Ramones tribute album by the Sons, with each song clocking in less than ten minutes. While not a tribute to anyone in any way, the song "Oxyjezam" does provide a bit of a sonic departure, with the band more or less soloing cleanly for nine-plus minutes, rather than sticking with their more typical approach that finds them hammering out a monster riff, veiled in distorted, wailing guitar every three or four seconds. The clean guitar is strange, and the fact that they skipped out on lyrics completely is an added bonus, as their lyrics are usually undecipherable and ultimately unnecessary. "Tales of Otis", however, clings more doggedly to the aforementioned formula, although for a relatively short burst of about eight minutes. Queen Elephantine provides a somewhat different approach. Rather than the pounding drums and heavy riffs, the band employs a smoother style, with more nuanced percussion providing the backdrop for ethereal guitars. The epically named, "The Battle of Masscoit (The Weapon of the King of Gods)" floats along for over twenty-five minutes, never really hitting any kind of boiling point, but never really washing out either. A decided lack of vocals, as with the Sons of Otis songs, is a huge plus. It will be worth watching out for this band if they release a full length in the near future. Starting with the high minded musicality of YOB and buffing out the rough patches by eliminating unnecessary vocal interruptions, Queen Elephantine create a solid sound that's all their own. Generally, the split CD in general is cross promotion and marketing at its worst: Two bands covering each other's songs to draw the audience of one towards the other, or some such. Usually, it's a good novelty, but little else. Doom and its related genres are proving the exception to the rule, however, with great offerings already from the Hidden Hand with Wooly Mammoth, and going back a ways, ATP with Halfway to Gone and Unida with Dozer. Add Sons of Otis and Queen Elephantine to that pantheon. ======================================== Hellride Music The Sons of Otis/Queen Elephantine split is a trance-inducing slab of psychedelia, steeped in illicit substances and left to dry under an alien sun. It matches veteran Canadian heavy space voyagers Sons of Otis with Hong Kong newcomers Queen Elephantine in a most satisfying trip to the center of the mind. Sons of Otis! Where have they been hiding lately? Despite their Spinal Tap-like problems with keeping drummers, they've been a towering presence in heavy space music for a decade or so, from the sludgy 'Paid to Suffer' through the classic titanic space voyage of 'Spacejumbofudge' to the more focused 'X' from 2004. So although Otis is best known for their space trips, they've experimented with other genres here and there throughout their history. The initial track on this split, a slug-slow minimalist mix of thunderous bass chords, bass drum, and feedback reminiscent of Khanate or Earth may throw many fans for a loop, it's not like they've never experimented before, as a thorough investigation of their past will demonstrate. The second tune, 'Oxazejam,' will be more familiar, a somewhat lo-fi space rock jam that will have you seeing colors in no time, with Ken Baluke's guitar sounding like Robin Trower or Hendrix played under the heavy gravitational weight of Jupiter. It's good to have Sons of Otis back! Queen Elephantine is the new dude on the block, a group of Hong Kong teenagers (!) who love the classic psych journeys of yore, and aren't afraid to rekindle the past, adapted to the 21st century. For players so young, they've really done their homework! Their single song on this split, the epic 'The Battle of Massacoit (The Weapon of the King of Gods)' is a droning psychedelic trip that, despite its 25-minute length, is over too soon. The music has a meditative space sound, like a solarized wind calmly blowing on an alien planet, or a brace of Tibetan monks on PCP, glued to their prayer mats and ommm-ing themselves to oblivion. It is reminiscent of the more organic, calmer moments of early Hawkwind or the cosmic Krautrock explorations of Walter Wegmuller or Sergius Golowin on the elusive 'Lord Krishna von Goloka' album. Oms blend with guitar strumming and sitar until the vocals come in around 19 minutes, sounding not unlike Sleep on the must-have 'Dopesmoker.' There's plenty of galactic bliss on this disc, and plenty of underlying dread as well. These Concrete Lo-Fi Records tend to disappear pretty quickly, so now's the time to merge with our uneasy universe. The Atman will thank you. ======================================== South China Morning Post What were you doing at 17? Chances are you weren't playing in several bands, managing a record label and distributing releases from some of your most revered musical figures. Indy Shome is, and over several years the teenager has made a name for himself as one of the most dedicated figures in Hong Kong's underground music movement. After first emerging as frontman and guitarist for stoner-rock monsters Molten Lava Death Massage, Shome has gone on to form doom-metal outfit Queen Elephantine and found Concrete Lo-Fi Records, which has helped with the local distribution for big names such as US garage rockers Brian Jonestown Massacre and Canadian sludge kings Sons Of Otis. Whereas Molten Lava were an amalgamation of intense guitar jams and guttural vocals, Queen Elephantine have stripped back the sound, revealing strong influences from the likes of pre-grunge godfathers the Melvins and drone pacesetters Earth. Queen Elephantine's latest release, a single 25-minute track on a split three-track CD with the Sons Of Otis, sums up the band's modus operandi: the constant strumming of a low bass chord intermingles with sparse guitar notes, creating a subtle interplay that drones as much as it rocks. "There's actually quite a lot going on underneath," Shome says of the track Battle Of Massacott. "The guitars are kept really low, so just the higher and lower frequencies penetrate. There's an intense amount of an emotion that can be expressed in such a small variation in the music. "We were trying to make something with a spiritual undertone. We all got lost in a trance when we made the track. It was four guys standing in a circle in the dark for 25 minutes, and by the end we were all chanting into our mikes, really drained." Glacial-slow doom metal brings the headbangers' soundtrack back to its logical progression after the extremes of lightning-fast grindcore. These aren't the sorts of tunes that are going to appeal to people seeking pyrotechnic guitar antics. ======================================== Into The Sun |
Doom-sludge.com This time a bomb comes from Hong Kong - it's amazing split with space rock geniuses from Canada - Sons Of Otis, and young psychedelic rock masters from Hong Kong - Queen Elephantine. The split has 3 tracks: 17-minutes total two songs from Sons Of Otis and 25-minutes epic song from Queen Elephantine. First track is "Tales Of Otis" from canadians. It was a little unexpected for me what i heard. Extremely monotonous and heavy drone-march in the vein of Stephen O' Malley's works. Really "mind-crushing" 8 minutes of oppressing and monosyllabic drone guitar riffs. But this painful heavyness fortunately has a counterbalance as a disturbed mad squeak/clang sounds. Moreover, these sounds adds a little variety to this gloomy funeral procession. Really dark and heavy song! But when "Tales Of Otis" eventually comes to an end - there comes a time of true space rock! I'm talking about a second track "Oxazejam". We all know HOW Sons Of Otis can play, but in this song they've surpassed themselves. Drums set an elegant placid slow rhythm, which doesn't change up to the end of song. But the main thing is certainly a Baluke's guitar. I always ask myself - how the hell he does that??? It's so awesome, that you simply dissolve in sound, a cosmic tranquillity seizes you. A sound envelops you, envelops all room, envelops everything around at all. A tremendous song! Third track is Queen Elephantine's "The Battle Of Massacoit/The Weapon Of The King Of Gods". Queen Elephantine is a young band from Hong Kong, which will blow your head off. They present a substantial 25-minutes epic canvas full of diverse pieces. Mysterious beginning with percussion and powerfull bass-waves is a prologue of this long psychedelic journey. Drums is a most intensive part of music here. Sometimes a beautiful melody appears and brings some notes of melancholy. In the first part of song there's practically no vocals. They start, when a song gradually comes to an end. A rhythm becomes slower and facilitated. A song is closed by a percussion solo. In spite of the fact that song is damn long, you really enjoy it and listen with a big interest. Hong Kong masters made a good job! This split is so good that i'm absolutely sure it will be on the top of the best 2007 albums. It's an excellent release and absolutely must have for all psychedelic-headz!!!
Stonerrock.com Concrete Lo-Fi Records's Indy Shome is a busy teenager. He's not only running the Hong Kong based indie label, but also playing in (at least) two bands – the stoner-doom-hardcore-sludge Molten Lava Death Massage, who released Eye of Ra last year, and Queen Elephantine, a more psychedelic minded band making its debut with this split with Massachusetts' Elder. Queen Elephantine's “Ramesses” suite ranges from promising to satisfying. Like Molten Lava Death Massage, there's a “recorded live in one take” quality to the four songs. When it works, it's a fairly engrossing take on the stoner Hawkwind/Pink Floyd motif. When it doesn't, it comes off awkward and under-developed. That's mostly due to the drumming, a similar complaint with Molten Lava Death Massage, but also with the vocals, which generally sound out of place. “Ramesses I” is probably the best overall, but I'd like to hear “Ramesses III” re-recorded with better production. There's enough going on with it musically to warrant the band indulging in everything a studio has to offer. Massachusetts' Elder sounds like they've been practicing longer and therefore come off as the stronger of the two acts. Their four tracks range from the slow and punishing to the more groove-friendly (albeit in a 100% doom way) to an almost hardcore stomp. “Black Midnight” is currently the favorite, as that's the one that rumbles the loudest, but “[untitled]” takes the rehashed Kyuss sound and makes it meth addict mean. The only real stumble is with “Red Sunrise,” which I've heard under different titles by different bands. I'd put this in the “There's Hope for the Future” pile. Both bands look like they're recently acquainted with the legal right to vote, and in spite of the flaws, there's plenty of promise to this split. ======================================== Hellride Music I love split albums. In most cases you’ll get two pretty sweet established acts fighting it out for top honors and more often than not serving up some pretty ass-kicking, non-album tracks. Then you’ll have cases of two sort of under the radar bands pairing up and delivering killer music that is about as hard to come by as most of the releases in their career. I would put the Lost-it/Igon split that I just reviewed into that category. Then finally, there are the split albums that serve as the introduction to two awesome bands that you are probably going to hear a lot more about in the future. I would put this split album between Hong Kong’s Queen Elephantine and Massachusetts’s Elder into the third category for certain. I haven’t heard anything about either band but stumbled across info on this split on the good ol’ net. Queen Elephantine are up first with their four parts of “Ramesses”, which are all separate tracks but really deliver their best impact when listened to as a cohesive unit. The first part of this four piece epic is an instrumental track with clean guitars and mesmerizing rhythms that set things up for the second part’s heavier, more distorted swells of sound. It is still a psyched out affair though and doesn’t really dwell into the realm of all out heaviness. The vocals kind of have an early Josh Homme flavor to them and it fits nicely with the spacey, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd elements in their sound. The vocals are mellow and smooth but with enough strength in the delivery to make them not just part of the background. Every once in awhile they feel slightly forced but for the most part it’s a solid delivery that usually comes across well enough with the music. The bass plays a prominent role in building up the track and the guitar plays distorted, buzzing riffage that eventually builds into a strong, and 70’s psyche groove. I really think fans of Titan and the recent Mammatus record would dig on these guys a lot in addition to fans of the older stuff just because they have so many psyched out, 70’s prog influenced tendencies. The third part is another psychedelic affair that builds up slowly and hypnotizing with plenty of awesome guitar lines and tribal drum rhythms. The vocals make a brief, melodic appearance in the beginning and the entire track just sets things off into a dreamy atmosphere. An out of place gravelly, vocal enters right before the mid-point (I’d drop that stuff in the future) and things start really building in intensity as the rhythm section locks in a massive groove and the guitar provides ambient background, before the distortion kicks in and things get heavy until the end. The final part of “Ramesses” builds up with bass, drum and ambient guitar before turning into the heaviest part of the jam with distorted riffing, screaming/shouted vocals backing up the melodic voice. Phew, these four tracks are a real workout and it’s interesting to note that this stuff is all improvised. The sound quality sounds like a good live recording but gets the message across without a hitch and adds to the charm of these songs. Very nice tracks by Queen Elephantine for sure even though a few quirks could be ironed out for future releases. The other side of the split turns up the heaviness big time with Elder’s, hateful doom/sludge that combines classic influence with sprawling heaviness and touches of psychedelic atmospheres, metal and vicious vocals. “1162” is a sludge fan’s wet dream with furious, Sabbath tinged riffs, huge bass, screaming vocals, elephantine tempos (hehe, I had to) and some awesome lead work that sounds straight out of the Maryland doom scene. Goddamn, really sweet track. The track is also a meaty 10 minutes long and never loses your attention or the swinging doom that it begins with for even a second. “Red Sunrise” mixes thing up a bit and maintains an upbeat, early Soulpreacher and even a Sofa King Killer kind of vibe. It is definitely sludged-out and crushing but has swinging grooves and southern friend riffs n’ leads to make this madness a toe-tapping good time! They slow down and knuckle drag almost until the end after a certain point before switching back to another blues/doom groove, giving the track a great Jekyll and Hyde type of feel. Hell there is even alternating singing and pissed off screaming at the end of the track for the ultimate finale. The singing is good too, so it doesn’t offset the sludge factor at all. “Black Midnight” is up next and it a sprawling effort roping together many varying influences. The track starts off with a grooving, epic southern riff that almost reminds me of something Rwake might have unleashed in the past before the band bring in huge, Sabbathian riffage with shouted from a mile away vocals akin to something like “Blood of Zion” on High on Fire’s mighty “Art of Self-Defense” album. There is southern doom and Sleep and early HOF all over this track and the combined result is fantastic to behold. I even feel that there is some Vitus style heaviness going on in the later part of the track when the band bring in slow, crawling doom that will lay waste to empires before descending into a massive groove once again. Seriously, I don’t know how these guys do it. They look like really young dudes and as far as I know they haven’t been around too long at all but they are jamming out MASSIVE sludge/doom epics like they are seasoned pros. Their final track is an untitled jam that starts off with an almost black metal feel and kind of reminds me of some of the Fistula related projects with a blazing riff and a cold as ice feel, topped off with sneering vocals but the track eventually brings in elements of psyched out, sludge-ridden guitar work, that caps things off on an excellent and varied note. Damn, this is a surprising split. If you are looking for pristine recording quality then you probably will be turned off by this, but fuck it. I like the way it sounds and it’s not that muddy or anything. Queen Elephantine sounds live on the floor and Elder are heavy as hell and have a grimy but clear production so that you never lose track of what is going on. I wouldn’t call it muddy, just grimy bringing forth the filth perfectly and layering the psychedelic elements with a layer of mystery. This is a damn fine split all around, and serves as a great introduction to two bands that are well-worth checking into. I’m going to be spinning this one a bunch in the coming months so definitely give it a check if you are in the mood to check out some brand new psyche and doom music. The length of this review is ridiculous but this is a pretty epic piece of work, especially by two bands I have never even heard a mention of until a mere few weeks ago. Killer stuff, don’t be stingy and miss out on this one. You’ll be sorry. ======================================== Doom-metal.com The cover art with very colorful shapes melting into eachother, mushrooms and the god Kernunos in a symbolic presentation of the divine and nature, suggests to me that whatever is to be found on this CD is highly psychadelic. The music did nothing to dissapoint when it comes to following up this prediction. The most psychadelic of
the two bands is Queen Elephantine. In
particular the vocalist sounds like a Woodstock '68 preacher who has
just tested all of his substances. The music is almost meditative in
it's repeating and voidlike strukture. To achieve this they have in
many tracks sacrificed the groove often associated with the rock part
of psychadelic rock, yet the music remains very much in that direction.
The effect is perhaps best described like this: Who cares if substance
abuse is illegal or immoral, you can get pretty high on this alone.
However I can't help but wonder how on earth all of this relates to While Queen Elephantine is a constant upper, Elder trip on far lower notes. They get their own high from grooving heavy stoner/doom metal. They bring out a lot of the good stuff from the genre and their definately strongest point is the very technical riffage and percussion. However, unlike most of their genremates, this is not a laid back band in any way. They focus on dark and agressive tracks with growled vocals. This is stoner/doom that doesn't just frown, it's sneering with vicious, shiny white teeth. In fact they are the only stoner band that I've encountered thus far that can compete against sludge or death bands when it comes to being menacing. Both bands are very good in what they do and while being very different, when combined like this they provide a complete experience from top to bottom. In addition the experience is quite unique as the bands are highly original, which can make it hard to find the right fanbase to reccomend it to. I think fans of extreme psychadelia would be the one to fancy Queen Elephantine and those who fancy stoner/sludge mixtures can expect to find something to their liking from Elder. But perhaps th easiest way is to listen for yourself. The split is free for download here, at their record company. Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen
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