Bandcamp Lord Elephant make the kind of doom that doesn’t need a singer. Ultra Soul, the Florence trio’s Heavy Psych Sounds outing, is seven wordless tracks of fuzz, groove and cosmic dread, the great gnarled world-tree on the cover standing in for the album’s whole vibe: something rooted, heavy and slowly reaching skyward. This is instrumental heavy-psych doom in the classic mould, no vocals to hide behind, just the riff carrying the entire weight, and for the most part the trio have the riffs to justify the approach.
The record is at its best when it lets the air in. “Gigantia” is the clearest win, an organic, roomy, live-feeling performance with natural dynamics the mastering never flattens, the drums breathing in a real room and the bass growling raw underneath. The closer “Leave This World With Me” is the other high point, and a surprising one, an airy, near-dry piece built on clean, melancholic guitars and wide dynamics that trades the album’s density for genuine space. When Lord Elephant pull back and let the notes ring, the “soul” of the title actually surfaces.
The trouble is that they don’t pull back often enough. Most of Ultra Soul leans into a deliberately raw, cavernous, wet analog sound with the low mids pushed so far forward that the mix turns murky: “Electric Dunes” and “Astral Crypt” drown their kick drums in an overloaded low end, “Smoke Tower” compresses its wall of fuzz until the definition collapses, and “Black River Blues” and “MindNight” chase a lo-fi cellar aesthetic that swallows the string articulation whole. Raw is the tradition here, and none of this is a betrayal of the genre, but across seven tracks the near-constant low-mid haze starts to blur the riffs into one another.
Ultra Soul is an immersive, atmospheric, riff-first instrumental doom record with real heft and a couple of genuinely beautiful moments of space, held back by a mix that too often prioritises murk over the definition its best riffs deserve. When it opens up, as on “Gigantia” and the closer, it’s the real cosmic-doom deal. A touch more clarity in the densest stretches would have let this great tree’s roots show through the fog. Play it loud, and forgive the haze.
Instrumental heavy-psych doom in the classic mould, seven wordless tracks of fuzz, groove and cosmic dread carried entirely by the riff. It’s best when it lets the air in: “Gigantia” is organic and roomy with natural dynamics the mastering never flattens, drums breathing in a real room and bass growling raw underneath, and the closer “Leave This World With Me” is an airy, near-dry piece of clean melancholic guitars and wide dynamics that trades density for space. The trouble is they don’t pull back often enough: most of the record leans into a deliberately raw, cavernous, wet analog sound with the low mids pushed so far forward it turns murky, “Electric Dunes” and “Astral Crypt” drowning their kicks in an overloaded low end, “Smoke Tower” compressing its fuzz wall until definition collapses, “Black River Blues” and “MindNight” chasing a lo-fi cellar aesthetic that swallows string articulation. Raw is the tradition, but across seven tracks the near-constant low-mid haze blurs the riffs together. Immersive and heavy, murky when it won’t open up.
Standout tracks: Gigantia, Leave This World With Me, Electric Dunes
