CHEAT THE GALLOWS

Bigelf just doesn't pull it out of the hat

Ever since I saw Bigelf perform live at Progressive Nation 2009 tour at Stockholm Hovet, I've given their latest album Cheat the Gallows couple of spins each year. No reason for more, because frankly, how much can one endure disappointment?

US/Finnish hard rock group Bigelf creates high expectations with their Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin influences. There are even some hints to The Wall era Pink Floyd in their harsh-sounding organ heavy dramatic hard rock style, with occasional musical humour here and there. But if you really look farther Damon Fox's fearsome topper hat and massive Mellotron/Hammond C3 duo which looks like it has jumped right out of Captain Nemo's submarine from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, you find nothing special.

Bigelf's annoyingly conventional guitar parts mixed with sporadical whoops from (two!) organs create a really woolly and unclear concert and studio sound. 23-piece orchestra adds character to the best songs on the album, but is still notably underused. The listener would find some very promising moments for Bigelf's own style to emerge, especially in four star songs listed below, but in the end it still drowns into their desperate act to make some dramatic doom rock, which might be impressive on stage but hardly memorable on cd. With some cuts Cheat the Gallows would have made a great EP.

Noteworthy four-star song: The Evils of Rock 'n Roll. Three-star songs: Money, It's Pure Evil, Hydra, Counting Sheep.

2,5 stars