Desert Psychlist is ashamed to admit that despite the release of two previous albums Elepharmers latest venture, "Lords of Galaxia" (Electric Valley Records), is the very first time we have listened to the band. How we have missed out on this intriguing Italian trio from the island idyll of Sardinia is beyond us, but believe us when we say, on the evidence of "Lords of Galaxia", their back catalogue is now our number one priority of things to check out.
The sci-fi novel/comic type artwork that adorns "Lords of Galaxia" leaves no doubt in the mind that Elepharmer's interests lie at the more cosmic end of the rock spectrum, not so much in the way of say Hawkwind, Øresund Space Collective or the early space rock of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd but with more of a Clutch,Cybernetic Witch Cult approach, in other words still utilising all the swirling whoops and whistles of the former but with the crunching metal riffs and blues infused grooves of the latter.
Dark crackling static heralds in first track "Ancient Astronauts" followed by a pulsating electronic groove over which spoken narrative sets the scene for the song, and for that matter the albums, lyrical storylines of extra-terrestrial visitation, space lords and cosmic conflicts Around these tales, told in clean, strong vocal tones, are laid grooves that swing between driving hard/stoner rock and spacey psych, Maurizio Mura (drums) and El Chino (vocals; rhythm guitar; bass; harmonica) providing a huge foundation of diverse and delightful cadences for guitarist Andrea "Fex" Cadeddu to decorate with his fiery rhythm and lead work., his blues infused solo's and crunching riffs undershot with an array of swooping, swirling effects giving songs like "Ziqqurat", "The Foundation" and "Stars Like Dust" an added element of cosmic gravitas.
Based around the novels of sci-fi writer Issac Asimov and the ancient astronaut theories of author Zecharia Sitchin "Lords of Galaxia" is that much maligned of mediums a "concept" album, however where many concepts fail ,due to being over convoluted and just to damn clever for their own good, "Lords of Galaxia" works because its "concept" is kept simple and works like a novel, each song a page in a very exhilarating and mind blowing tale.
Check it out …..
© 2019 Frazer Jones
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