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Review from the Beyond
The Black Elf Speaks
Not just a rock
opera with sets, elf costumes, throat-singing and Native American chantsäbut
a Tolkien-inspired rock opera guaranteed to have you making devil horns
and pumping your fists to its Sabbath-derived stomp. Formerly known as
Elvish Presley, this Charlottesville, Va., group boast a sensibility somewhere
between The Silmarillion, Spinal Tap and Skip Spence, surging from shambling
acoustic drone-folk to proggy bombast while reveling in the sheer geekiness
of the project. That they pull it off without annoying jokiness--while
rocking like a 1974 arena burner--says something about frontman Tom Blunderbucks
affection for fantasy and its fans. And underneath the elvish frippery,
you'll find the band is serious about the modern era's rootlessness and
consumer-culture disconnection. But you gotta admit those elf get-ups
are pretty cool. Best enjoyed with a flagon of mead, The Black Elf Speaks
after the monthly Working Stiff Jamboree at Springwater, sometime after
midnight. @byline2:J.R. |
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