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Band:Bigelf Album:Hex Record Company:Custard Records Writer: Mark Carras Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

Many people have tried to call this band the new Black Sabbath, but I wonder if those people have even listened to the entire cd. There is so much more here then those two songs that most have been exposed to. Although the band maintains a core sound throughout the cd, they have subtle nods to everything from Led Zeppelin, to Pink Floyd, to The Beatles as well as the mighty Sabbath. Listen to "Disappear" for example. During one section you would swear you are hearing a Pink Floyd song. Then all the sudden it kicks into this heavy groove that sounds like Black Sabbath. I think what everyone raves about with this band is the versatility and depth this cd has. TO say it is just a really great Black Sabbath style band misses so much of what this thing has.

"Rock & Roll Contract" starts off with this great Beatles vibe. Then it mixes in a touch of vintage David Bowie. Then it goes back to The Beatles without hurting the flow in any way. I love how in the end they left in some recording of what sounds like the guitarist telling the engineer "That's the idea". It just keeps the vibe of a 70's album going. "Sunshine Suicide" sounds like some twisted blend of every band I have already mentioned but instead of going from one to the other it's everything all at once. Very beautiful! See, many want to dismiss this band as just another retro band that made a great copy of other bands. Although they do wear their influences clearly on their collective sleeves, they also turn those influences into something very original. So to just call the band retro isn't giving the band a fair listen. I also hear ELO at times, but it is hard to pinpoint where that exactly is because it is also mixed with so much else. Is a chef unoriginal because they use salt just like millions before them? It is the overall result of the pie that makes it so special. These guys grab so many influences and mix it so well that it becomes their own powerful recipe. Listen to the keyboards on "Faling Bombs" and hear how they mix with the guitar. It's like two separate songs that somehow sound amazing when played at the same time. Count how many times you are reminded of T Rex or Deep Purple when listening to this entire cd. Then tell me this is just another retro band! "Black Moth" brings in more Led Zeppelin, but this time they also mix it with some Rainbow.

This band is why The Darkness pissed me off so much. Did I like The Darkness? Sure, they were an ok novelty act. There was however a reason they fell apart so quickly. It was a piss take. This is no piss take! This is the real deal and I hated the praise The Darkness got because they weren't like this. "Carry The Load" sounds more like Kyuss then anything from the 70's, but still flows well with the entire album. Song after song continues this amazing level of craftsmanship.

Does Bigelf Rock My Monkey with Hex? Well, this is probably going o be the last cd review I write for 2007 as we are now 21 hours from 2008 on the west coast and this just made my top ten for the fucking year! In fact, I just finished doing 30 cd reviews in a matter of a few days and I think this might have been the best out of that entire list of 30 cd's during this little cd review marathon of mine. Will I ever listen to this again now that the review is posted? Nah, I would rather torture myself with one of the ten million monotone metalcore band's everyone else is raving about.

Band:Bigelf Album:Hex Record Company:Custard Records Writer: Mark Carras Media: MySpace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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