CHEAT THE GALLOWS

Cheat The Gallows plays like a tribute to many bands of the recent past. Mostly, it draws heavily from the hard rock giants from the 70's, including DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH. There are riffs taken directly from the music of these British legends.

Another strong point of reference is PINK FLOYD. BIGELF's singer has no shame in trying to sound exaclty like Roger Waters at times. There are details of glam here and there, with DAVID BOWIE coming to mind, too. The vocal style also brings memories of THE BEATLES.

But this is mostly progressive-hard rock, with strong riffs and powerful songs, with enough progressive elements to make them worthy of inclusion in any prog collection, especially the last track, "Counting Sheep", which covers a lot of grounds.

The album is enjoyable, entertaining, with music that sounds like the artists were not taking themselves too seriously.

The lack of originality at times hurts the overall impact of the music, but I think that was the intended effect. BIGELF wanted to review the past's glories, wanted to pay a hommage to the legends that gave birth to hard rock and heavy metal. They partially succeed. Some better songs would have helped make the album a stronger one, but what we have is enough to warrant three stars.