Hailing from the birthplace of doom, aka England, London's own Elephant Tree are named for a hulking specimen found in Mother Nature; fitting, considering this stoner/doom quartet's massive sound. Having released their promising debut EP Theia back in 2014 via Magnetic Eye Records, Elephant Tree have been carefully honing their craft and are poised to release their debut, self-titled LP on April 22.
The band has already revealed two tracks from the album in the form of "Dawn" and "Aphotic Blues," and we're psyched to present the opening cut from the album, "Wither," and turn your ears on to Elephant Tree's looming and grooving brand of doom. Feast your ears on "Wither":
https://soundcloud.com/magnetic-eye-records/02-wither/s-PrjEV
The gentlemen in Elephant Tree are masters of combining gloomy atmosphere with head-bobbing grooves, and "Wither" is a perfect example of that. The song kicks off with a thick, fuzzy riff, locks into an almost cathartic groove and then wafts its way into your skull with the airy vocals of Riley MacInyre. Elephant Tree drummer Sam Hart had this to say about "Wither":
“‘Wither’ was one of the first tracks we came up with for the new album. We'd been kicking the riff around for a while but it wasn't really fitting into anything else we'd written. About a week before we went into record Jack came up with the chorus hook and then the rest fell into place. We don't want to give the lyrics away too much, but there is definitely a story behind them. It's going to be interesting to see how people interpret this song.”
The song as a whole gives off a big Windhand vibe, especially when the psychedelic guitar solo melts your brain towards the end of the song; definitely not a bad thing. It's truly a mind-numbing and nirvana-like experience to hear this talented band do their thing, and if "Wither" and their self-titled album is any indication, Elephant Tree are definitely going to be a name to watch in 2016. Pre-order Elephant Tree here.
