Search - Bigelf :: Closer To Doom

Refreshingly Retro!!!!

P. McKenna | Atlanta GA | 10/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like your music with big growling Hammond Organs, spooky Mellotrons, crunchy Black Sabbath-esque guitar riffing, Beatle-esque melody and some of the funniest, goofiest spookhouse/sci-fi lyrics this side of Uriah Heep or Atomic Rooster? Well folks, Bigelf is your band!



This takes me back to a wonderful time when musicianship, fun and crankin' rock riffage partied together in grand style. No sequencers or Pro-Tools jive here, just real good, honest crank it up and play abandon! Keyboardist Damon Fox just makes those vintage ivories come to life, Henry HM Jones definitely gets his crunch on with his trusty red SG and old Orange amps as the rhythm section kicks it along in a manner that would do Sabbath and Purple proud.



THis DESERVES to be cranked to 11 and enjoyed!"

Awesome

Deimos | Alberta | 07/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a truly awesome album. Very unique sound, awesome lyrics and just pure musicianship."

Blast (And I Mean A BLAST) From The "Past"

El Kabong | 08/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"More people need to hear this unbelievable album! Either version (the domestic pressing contains six tracks, the Euro reissue adds three, I believe). And don't be fooled by the title, this is no stoner/doom album - or, at least, no ORDINARY one.What exactly does Big Elf (who needed to sit down and think up a new name, by the way) bring to the table? Power. No, wait, make that 'titanic, massive, earth-shaking, cry-for-your-mommy POWER'. They start out with a sensibility hard-wired into the heart of 1970, reflected in their songwriting which features Beatles melodies and chord changes, Atomic Rooster production and vocals, and a whooshing, mega-monstrous fat Hammond sound that whiplashes your head back in a Jon Lord/Ken Hensley manner. Yow. Best of all, under the heavy armor these tracks are actually catchy and clever and betray a lot of pop savvy. But don't think 'pop', 'metal' or any other label in terms of any set of references past 1972. (There's an awful lot of retro-sounding stuff these days, but, really and truly, you'll be astonished by how vintage this sounds. It's more than just the Hammonds and Leslie cabinets, it's the whole vibe here - uncanny.) One duff track, 'Salvation', precludes the full five stars, but the remainder, particularly 'Change' (which sounds like the heaviest 'White Album' outtake ever), and 'Frustration' (so massively powerful you'll swear Nixon's still President) will blast you back 30-odd years if you were there, or give you an uncut dose of what it WAS like if you weren't. Kudos to Sylvia Massey as well for an incredible production job in light of this record's low-budget indie status."