Queen Elephantine


Queen Elephantine & Elder Double EP (Split CD) 2006 Concrete Lo-Fi
The cover art with very colorful shapes melting into each other, mushrooms, and the god Kernunos in a symbolic representation of the divine and nature, suggests to me that whatever is to be found on this CD is highly psychedelic. The music did nothing to disappoint when it comes to following up this prediction.

The most psychedelic of the two bands is Queen Elephantine. In particular, the vocalist sounds like a Woodstock '68 preacher who has just tested all of his substances. The music is almost meditative in its repeating and void-like structure. To achieve this, they have in many tracks sacrificed the groove often associated with the rock part of psychedelic rock, yet the music remains very much in that direction. The effect is perhaps best described like this: Who cares if substance abuse is illegal or immoral, you can get pretty high on this alone. However, I can't help but wonder how on earth all of this relates to Ramesses...

While Queen Elephantine is a constant upper, Elder trip on far lower notes. They get their own high from grooving heavy stoner/doom metal. They bring out a lot of the good stuff from the genre, and their strongest point is definitely the very technical riffage and percussion. However, unlike most of their genre mates, this is not a laid back band in any way. They focus on dark and aggressive tracks with growled vocals. This is stoner/doom that doesn't just frown; it's sneering with vicious, shiny white teeth. In fact, they are the only stoner band that I've encountered thus far which can compete against sludge or death bands when it comes to being menacing.

Both bands are very good in what they do, and while being very different, when combined like this they provide a complete experience from top to bottom. In addition, the experience is quite unique as the bands are highly original, which can make it hard to find the right fan base to recommend it to. I think fans of extreme psychedelia would be the ones to fancy Queen Elephantine and those who fancy stoner/sludge mixtures can expect to find something to their liking from Elder. But perhaps the easiest way is to listen for yourself. The split is free for download here, at their record company.
Album Cover

Queen Elephantine:
1. Ramesses I
2. Ramesses II
3. Ramesses III
4. Ramesses IV

Elder:
5. 1162
6. Red Sunrise
7. Black Midnight
8. (untitled)

Approx. 59 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen
Queen Elephantine / Sons Of Otis Split (Split CD) 2007 Concrete Lo-Fi
A really massive heavyweight of a split. It starts with 'Tales Of Otis' by Sons Of Otis, which is a track full of incredibly slow and slightly unnerving riffage. While most of their previous works have been very stoner influenced, this would come closer to being a mixture of doom/sludge and doom/drone. The attitude is very dark and slightly agressive. In fact, this is pretty much the same kind of music that Corrupted make. The main difference would be that this track has no vocals.

The second track is more in their usual style, though still without vocals. The riffage is much less deep and jams along in a very spaced manner. High as a kite, in other words. In addition, it must be said that the melody line is incredibly relaxing while at the same time tickling the air guitar lobe in the stoner fan's mind. Clearly one of the most far out tracks in the doom/stoner genre. Exactly what any Sons Of Otis fan would be looking for.

The far out music on 'Oxazejam' is a perfect passage over to Queen Elephantine's track. While they have only half as many tracks as the direct descendants of Otis, 'The Battle OF Massacoit (The Weapon Of The King Of Gods)' lasts a whole 26 minutes and that's nearly ten minutes more than the other two tracks combined. The music is nearly as high as on 'Oxazejam', but less stonery and more droning. An interesting aspect of the music is that the regular drumwork is supplemented with what sounds like a set of bongo drums. The track even ends with the bongo drums jamming it out in a solo. It really gives the track a slightly Middle Eastern feeling. The vocals are very slow and does sound a bit drunk or drugged. All in all a very relaxing track that make you feel like you're floating around above a desert on the back of a slightly psychadelic camel.

The music from both bands fit really good together, giving the overall feeling of the split a comfortably holistic tinge. This wouldn't have been a big thing if the bands had more active and more intensely chaotic music. However, when the music is this relaxed and as chaotic in the same way an etheral wave would be, then good continuation is very welcome. Most importantly for my verdict, it enables the music to become really pleasant music for relaxation. And that's exactly what I would recommend it as. If you want something far out to allow your mind to wander, then this is probably a very good choice.
Album Cover

Sons Of Otis:
1. Tales Of Otis
2. Oxazejam

Queen Elephantine:
3. The Battle OF Massacoit (The Weapon Of The King Of Gods)

Approx. 44 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen