Elephant Bell - Gates Of Dawn (EN)

The Finnish Elephant Bell has been around since the turn of the millennium, but they only brought out three demos and one EP so far. At least I could not find no other information about this. With the present Stoner disc "Gates Of Dawn" we deal with the debut so to speak, at least regarding the long-range.

As one of their influences, the troop names Monster Magnet, and probably they were inspired by them as well when it came to naming. Well, that's what you can think of, as they used the same title as the Americans.

We can hear the sound of true Stoner Rock. Influences of various stylistic settings are processed here and are rather harmoniously connected. The drums and the guitars determine the songs, which mostly roll through the boxes. The rhythm faction is the driving force and it matches riff on riff, which also gives the whole thing a regular groove again and again. The drum machine is doing the rest, and always delivers a small battle with the taps. Also the bass is well integrated and gets its own dominance. The leads fit relatively well into the overall sound, give small melodic moments and always have their own place, e.g. as a solo. Correctly placed in "Straight To Hell".
Unfortunately, the instruments often overlap too much and make it difficult to hear the subtleties. The slight southern rock touch is always to be heard.

Regarding the vocals it's very varied here. Usually it is thrown at you in a snarling manner, but it is also different and they deliver vocals, which can almost be called Growls. Or they are sung quietly and almost hypnotizing, as in "Dreamwheel", a very quiet number, therefore. I can not help it but always, when it gets nasty, a touch of Marylin Manson is in the voice of Tommy. In the album concluding "The Last Scene" he sounds almost like Matthew Bellamy of Muse, only harder.

Conclusion:
Elephant Bell delivers a solid piece of Stonerrock, which can score the most with its variety, which is mainly produced by the tempo change and the variable vocals. Fans of the genre should find "Gates Of Dawn" an album, which should fit well into the local collection. If you are not really warm with this genre, this won't be your thing probably.

Rating: 7/10

Recommendation: Dreamwheel, Straight To Hell, The Last Scene