Bull Elephant - Created From Death

Bull Elephant really did not waste any time between this album and their previous album which dropped just about a year ago, so there was some pre-dispositioned fear that this one was going to be a little stale. However, the UK group has proven they still can create varied music with such a small gap that is progressive enough and still hits hard in the death metal vein. Usually when thinking of prog death, groups like (early 2000s) Opeth and Ne Obliviscaris come to mind for their excellent marriage of brutal metal passages mixed with clean symphonic/ acoustic sections and rather epic stretching tracks. Bull Elephant are not this kind of group. They do have a mix of hard and soft moments throughout “Created From Death” but draw on many other elements to try and really make their progressive side unique without being too all over the place.

It is a bit deceiving with the opening ‘Created From Death’ which has a very distorted, raw tone to it that feels more like a sludge/ doom metal piece versus death metal, but the music eventually slides into that territory. The overall feel with the vocals switch between raw heavy metal/ thrash to death metal and then during the slower parts with plenty of melodic guitar one gets the cleaner- but still raw and sludgy sounding- vocals. The guitars are the main feature on the album and showcase quite a bit of talent, whether it is the thrashier touch on this track or the ‘waahh wahh’ wail on ‘Oneiromantic Rites.’ Atmosphere plays a great part on the softer parts, and those who are looking for more of an Opeth vibe will appreciate the work on ‘Oneiromantic…’ even more. For a rougher, heavier sound ‘Lebensraum’ features less softer moments and more of a raw death metal style with singular picked strings in between. While there isn’t as much variation on this track or ‘Cult of the Black Sun…’ which sounds like the most progressive and epic track, but ends up being one of the shortest, Bull Elephant really shows their grittier side through the music with a little bit of bluesy influence, much like a more death metal version of Glorior Belli.

For more atmospheric pieces that are shrouded in distortion, ‘Last Defilement’ adds in some synth and a sludge pace to mix things up. For some reason, the drums really take a focus here while the guitars take a little bit of a back seat. Things eventually shift back to string focus on ‘Escape To The Arctic’ and ‘Wayfarer’ with a more predictable pace of starting out slow, building in a heavier death metal fashion, slowing down again with some clean vocals- perhaps the cleanest on the album- and then picking up again, but despite the lack of variation between tracks compared to some of the earlier ones, one can’t help but appreciate the guitar work along with the three pronged vocal attack even though there is just one vocalist. The bass work on ‘Escape…’ along with the throaty chant is probably one of the most chilling moments; very ritualistic and a nice touch that listeners may not have had a chance to experience with Bull Elephant yet. It further enhances the mix of prog and sludge metal they create. Overall, this is a worthy listen for those who like prog death metal raw but with plenty of soft moments and tons of twists and turns in the vocal department that don’t feel too ‘out there’ or like a group is tying to jam too many genres into one track. “Created From Death” is grim yet wonderous and an adventure for those who like death metal a bit on the wild side.

4 / 5 STARS 

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1. Created From Death
2. Oneiromantic Rites
3. Lebensraum
4. Cult Of The Black Sun Nemesis
5. Last Defilement
6. Perverted Science
7. Escape To The Arctic
8. Wayfarer


Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jul 30, 2020
Next review: Asgrauw - IJsval

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