Album number three from Black Elephant landed in late July on Small Stone Records. Their heavy, fuzzy psychedelic rock is certainly right at home on one of the leading purveyors of stoner rock, as this Italian outfit walk the line between desert rock and vintage psych jams for 34 minutes.
“Cosmic Soul” kicks things off with a mellow blues riff that’s halfway between Kyuss and Sons of OTIS, and a slow, laid-back tempo with shades of Clutch—especially in the vocal department—before a funky groove kicks in in the final minute or so. “Helter Skelter” sounds nothing like the Beatles number—riding a slow, heavy groove à la Fu Manchu, complete with a killer guitar solo, followed by a sizzling wah section. After a funky, sub-two-minute instrumental (“Chase Me”), “Walking Dead” is a pretty decent stop-start stomp that again brings the likes of Clutch and Fu Manchu to mind, complete with a touch of 70’s psych.
“Baby Eroina” busts out a vintage groove that reminds me of Mountain, once again relying on a sparser, bluesier verse before getting back to the riffs. The intriguingly titled “Cosmic Blues for Solitary Moose” wails and whines like vintage Blue Cheer, or maybe even Earthless, with its extended guitar solos, although this one clocks in under four minutes. “Inno” ends the album with a handful of head-nodding, heavy riffs sandwiched between some more melodic passages. I’m not sure, but I think this song might be in Italian.
smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-blues
