Emperors and Elephants – Devil In The Lake (2014) – CD Review

The Windy City has unleashed a massive new modern hard rock juggernaut onto the scene with the band, Emperors and Elephants.

Emperors and Elephants sound is influenced by 90’s hard rock scene. The band wears their influences on their sleeves, on their new album Devil In The Lake. On the first listen, I immediately noticed the Alice in Chains influence but found their music to be completely refreshing. If you are expecting another album full of down tuned guitars, think again. There are a lot of infectious riffs to be found on this album. Emperors and Elephants recently added Randy “The Arsonist” Cooper from Texas Hippie Coalition to their ranks, and his playing mixed with Jeph Stiph’s gives E+E, a pretty fantastic guitar tandem. If the opening track “Bring It Down” doesn’t make you a quick believer, “Who Are You” will certainly drive the point home.

Devil In The Lake has a bunch of radio ready tracks. Some songs are pretty heavy, some tone it down to allow Jesse Andrews’ voice to shine. When Andrews’ voice is the focal point in the music, you will find that he has a pretty awesome voice, and he can hold his own with some of the best modern rock singers out there today.

My Favorite songs on Devil In the Lake include “Bring It Down”, “Who Are You”, “Hit of Red”, “You and I” and the band’s hard rockin’ cover of the Chris Isaac classic “Wicked Game”.

Emperors and Elephants is easily one of the best new modern hard rock bands I have listened to in 2014. If you are a fan of bands like Alice in Chains, Shinedown and Pop Evil, do yourself a favor, and check out Devil In The Lake. I think you are going to like Emperors and Elephants a lot. I sure do!

Rating: Out of 10

Track Listing:
01. Bring It Down
02. Who Are You
03. Your Will
04. Man of God
05. Locust
06. Hit of Red
07. Deep Sleep
08. Change
09. Wicked Game
10. Ghost In The Mirror
11. You And I
12. M.oG. – Dupermang Re-Mix

Emperors and Elephants are:
Jesse Andrews – Vocals
Jason Meudt – drums
Jeph Stiph – Guitars
Randy “The Arsonist” Cooper – Guitars
Ron “Stoppable” Vanders – Bass

Comments

MissNPet April 10, 2014 · Reply

Well done! Smooth, comforting voice. Super tight playing. Excellent job.