Ralph Beeby & the Elephant Collective – Death Be Gentle (Mönchsgeier) (2021)
If you have ever been in the mood for blues music that is just a little off-kilter, you need to listen to Ralpha Beeby & the Elephant Collective. Bringing a touch of weirdness to addictive blues, the band gets you seriously hooked to their incredibly unique music. With their single ‘Death be Gentle (Mönchsgeier)’, they have a sardonic conversation with death while their guitars howl in the background.
Taken from their Another Swing of the Scythe album, it continues the thematic drive of death and mortality. With Ralph Beeby as the brains behind the project, the band shrouds the world in darkness only to break free of the dark thrall with frank lyrics and sardonic humour. If this single is the first taste you have of their sound, you are going to hunger for the rest of their melodic cake.
‘Death Be Gentle (Mönchsgeier)’ calls to your soul with a mournful blues guitar that mourns through the soundscape. There is a dark and creeping feeling to the melody that brings a touch of heavy delta blues. The darkness of the melody is amazing as it sets the tone and has you feeling like something is lurking just behind you. In a style that is perfect for the subject matter, the music has you imagining sitting on a porch seat with the Grim Reaper as the sun sets. The deep blues-rock sound of the track instantly hooks you to the music. The slide of the guitar later in the track calls out over the keys telling its own tale.
While the melody on its own is more than enough to get you addicted to their sound, the growling voice of Beeby tops everything perfectly. His performance brings a touch more rock to the blues of the melody. While growling against the guitar, he sardonically wraps his voice around a conversation with death. As the lyrics bring the conversation to your mind, the imagery in the lyrics is on another level completely. The power of his voice cuts through you like death’s scythe while leading you to a feeling of the unavoidable nature of death.
Ralph Beeby & the Elephant Collective hit you with some heavy delta blues while growling out a sardonic conversation with death in ‘Death Be Gentle (Mönchsgeier)’. As the darkness of the melody creeps into your senses, Beeby’s vocals growl through your soul. Combined they create an irresistible single that brings the best of delta blues to the growl of rock.
Find out more about Ralph Beeby & the Elephant Collective on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
