Bigelf - Cheat The Gallows Review
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 08.13.2008
Los Angeles rockers Bigelf are looking to make an impression on rock fans with Cheat The Gallows. Their sound spans generations, but will our generation want anything to do with the album?
1. Gravest Show On Earth-5:00
2. Blackball-7:02
3. Money, It’s Pure Evil-3:18
4. The Evils Of Rock & Roll-6:37
5. No Parachute-3:43
6. The Game-5:11
7. Superstar-3:46
8. Race With Time-4:28
9. Hydra-6:23
10. Counting Sheep-11:20
The Review
Describing Bigelf to somebody who has never heard of them is like explaining cold fusion to a third grader. Hell, even after listening to the band’s latest album, Cheat The Gallows, I can’t pinpoint Bigelf into a specific genre. The Los Angeles foursome takes every single musical idea developed during the 1970’s, throws those ideas into a blender, and creates a smoothie of pompous, bombastic deliciousness. Bigelf has been under the radar in the states for a long time, but with Cheat The Gallows, Bigelf shows the creative genius and drive that could spark a modern-day upheaval in rock music.
The brilliant quality about Bigelf is that their songwriting can translate to both a mainstream audience and an underground fan base. People who may scoff at the over-the-top verbose of “Blackball” would probably love the low-key Floyd-ish single “Money, It’s Pure Evil.” No matter how die-hard a fan you are of rock, there is something; a song, a melody, or even a simple riff that will grab even the harshest critic.
The album can be divided into two parts; the shorter, more straightforward tracks and the epic, progressive rock opuses. “Blackball” takes The Dark Side Of The Moon and compresses it into a seven minute journey, which includes saxophone and keyboard solos, a barrage of instruments creating a wall of sound that pierces the inner wall of your eardrum, and a guitar solo that would make Peter Gibbons curse himself for not thinking of it first. “Hydra” is driven by heavily distorted riffage and a touch of Middle Eastern influences leading to an awesome keyboard solo that ends the song on a high note.
The commercial-sounding songs evoke the image of many bands. With the slow-burning “No Parachute,” Bigelf puts on the David Bowie costume with a Beatles jacket on top of that for good measure. “Superstar” is sleazy 70’s hard rock that has “Hit Single” written all over it…if it was 1978, of course. “The Game” has a solo straight out of the “David Gilmour Handbook On How To Play Guitar,” which was recently stolen and used on Coheed and Cambria’s “The Final Cut.”
The tracks mentioned above are stellar, but two epics stand out amongst all the others. “The Evils Of Rock & Roll” starts off slow, with acoustic guitars driving the main melody before the speed picks up two minutes in and the song turns into one of the fastest on the album. Fans of Black Sabbath’s Sabotage will go bonkers over this track, which ends with a keyboard outro that sounds like the march of the undead into Satan’s den.
The centerpiece of the album is actually not in the center of the album, but in the closer “Counting Sheep,” which goes from Genesis to Yes to Floyd to folk music to a lost Buddy Holly track all in the span of ten-plus minutes. If there was any indication of the immense talent in Bigelf’s camp, “Counting Sheep” would be exhibit A, B, and C.
Damon Fox has a unique vocal style, which is tough to pinpoint. At times, he sounds like the bastard son of Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper, while having some Paul McCarthy and Peter Gabriel hidden inside. On most of the tracks, his keyboards are the principle instrument for the melody and atmosphere, and a lot of the 70’s influences seem to come out of his keyboarding. Ace Mark provides a steady hand and some fantastic solos, without going overboard or trying to top the rest of the band. Duffy Snowhill and Froth are the backbone to the Bigelf sound, the rhythm section that keeps everything together, not an easy feat considering the whirlwind of sounds that come at the listener constantly.
Cheat The Gallows is an album that will divide people. Some will absolutely adore the innovative and complex hour of music on display and others will see it as a unnecessary retro-sounding mess that goes on for too long and throws too many ideas at you, hoping a few of them will stick. Cheat The Gallows is not meant to be easily digested, as most rock music is. What Bigelf accomplishes is taking a whole bunch of genres and mashing them together to craft an album that is familiar, yet dissimilar, to anything you have ever heard. Cheat The Gallows is one of the best rock albums of the year so far and an album that demands your time and attention.
The 411: Bigelf has crafted an album that takes the listener through a journey of discovery and awesome keyboard solos. The songwriting is top-notch and there is enough on display to satisfy rock fans looking for something a bit out of the eye of the mainstream. Cheat The Gallows is the continuation of an ever-growing catalogue of superb albums for Bigelf. If the band continues on the path they are on, Bigelf could become a household name in the United States. Their next album could be a future masterpiece in the hopefully-willing ears of a generation that has forgotten what true "rock" sounds like.
