ELEPHANT IMPRESSION ~ DAWN OF DOOM ... review

Back in the day doom used to be defined by its atmospherics, its grandiose themes and its huge gothic tinted vocals but doom comes in many flavours these days, flavours that s range from low slow and heavy to harsh strident and technically complex with a whole gamut of interesting and diverse variations in-between. Germany's Elephant Impression, Marcel (guitar/vocals); Flo (guitar); Josué (drums) and Felix (bass), are a band whose grooves inhabit that "in-between". with their doom being an amalgamation of luscious heavy psych, gritty stoner metal, and textured post -rock tinted with an unexpected alt-rock/grunge like edginess. It is an intriguing blend and one that makes their debut album "Dawn of Doom" a worthy and rewarding listen.

Title track "Dawn of Doom" kicks things off and sets the scene for the rest of the album, its intro of slow pounding percussion, palm-muted arpeggios and droning guitar textures combining to create an insidious and menacing atmospheric that runs through not only this song but also the rest of the album, the band jamming a groove that is most certainly doom-ic in nature but is also so much more than just that. As the album progresses so does its appeal the bands guitarists laying down a mix of dark crunching riffs and shimmering post-rock guitar colourings beneath which the bassist and drummer have to routinely alter their rhythmic approach so as to accommodate each songs shifting dynamics. If this was an instrumental album Desert Psychlist would still not hesitate to recommend it to our readers, such is the quality of the musicianship on display, but there are vocals, and those vocals are of an equal quality to the musicianship that surrounds them. Vocalist Marcel is not a singer in possession of a rock god roar and apart from the occasional growl you won't find him going overboard on the harshness what he does possess however is a powerful and melodic vocal range which he uses to the utmost effect, soaring and pristine in the upper register dropping to a hushed semi whisper at the lower end, his distinctive vocals bringing extra dimensions of colour and texture to songs like " Walking Among Mammoths", "Stop the Time" and "Death" that they may well have lacked with a vocalist of a lesser talent'

  

Elephant Impression with "Dawn of Doom" are not exactly taking doom in a whole new direction, what they are doing is freshening it up and giving it a much-needed booster injection, they are doing this by weaving into it their doom-ic tapestries strands picked from musical fabrics not usually associated with the genre and in doing so are creating a sound that while familiar is nonetheless different.

Check 'em out .... 

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