Hunted By Elephants – Carry On
Release Date: 15th January 2021
Pre-Order
Genre: Classic Rock, 70s Rock.
FFO: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Greeta Van Fleet, Rival Sons.
Review By: Paul Franklin
The rewards on offer in the mine of Classic Rock still seem an irresistible draw to many bands. London-based outfit Hunted By Elephants (great name!), having previously scouted the tunnels with their debut in 2019, have returned with pickaxes in hand ready to strike paydirt!
The fact that the band state they are heavily influenced by the classic rock bands of the 70s and early 80s, can easily be heard across the ten tracks on Carry On. To be clear that’s classic rock with a capital ‘C’ and ‘R’, not dirty scuzzy classic rock, but the organically analogue classic rock of bands like Purple, Sabbath and Zeppelin. As they did back in the day, the tracks for this release were recorded with all the instruments played live in the same studio, layering on a warmth and richness in which you can pick out and appreciate each individual’s contribution.
Let Me Be starts with a Sabbath-esque riff and singer Apostolos Liapis’s confident take on the classic Gillan/Plant/Coverdale intonation. Carry On has a hint of Thin Lizzy in its guitar harmonies, then third track The Weapon wrong foots you with an acoustic intro before the heavier riffs come in.
As well as classic rock the band claim that ‘Funk, jazz, progressive rock and metal definitely influence our sound.’ A claim backed up by Wiseman, which whilst talking about our society and how every human being has the potential to be wise, funks things up nicely with a strutting beat and some nifty organ action.
To these ears Ghost Song is the standout track. Starting with a minimalist approach, a laid back jazzy beat allows for some sublime guitar work, with echoes of Sabbath’s Planet Caravan, to slowly build and envelop your senses. Closing your eyes and ears to any other distractions, and making you wish it would last a lot longer than it’s 4mins 30sec. Actually, this might be a good point to address possibly the only issue with this album. In the tradition of those classic 70s albums Carry On does feature the epic 7mins plus song in the vein of ‘Stairway’. But, Towards The Light doesn’t really live up to the expectation in that’s it’s just a bit meandering and doesn’t really use it’s 7mins to do anything that couldn’t have been better achieved in 4. Those extra 3mins would have been more valuable on the end of the aforementioned Ghost Song.
Putting this quibble aside. Believe in Something brings back the Rock (capital ‘R’ remember) in a blues-infused style. Then on final track Take Me Away, the band just seem to say, “Fuck It!” and unabashedly and joyfully, just go FULL ZEP. Seriously, you just have to smile and embrace the obvious glee in it all.
To return to the mining analogies, they have hit a main vein, and staked their claim.
Oh…..and if they ever get big enough to warrant a tribute band, can I suggest the name ‘Pursued By Pachyderms’.
(4 / 5)
