The Quill & the Elephant Head

The Quill will release their new studio album, Wheel Of Illusion,  on 29^th March through Metalville Records, and ahead of that – out now – is ‘Elephant Head’ their latest single.

Described as “a bit on the lighter side with a really catchy chorus,” this was the last song written for the album at the very last rehearsal before the band started recording. There’s a bit of basic rock n’ roll to this one which hasn’t been present in The Quill‘s sound for quite some time.

Available digitally, you can check out the single here at RAMzine.

Not to be confused with Quill, the UK band who’ve been together since the seventies and now feature legendary drummer Jeff Lynne (ELO, The Move, Black Sabbath), this Swedish hard rock band has been putting albums out on the continent since 1995.

The band features Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon, Mountain Of Power) on vocals, Christian Carlsson (Cirkus Prütz) on guitar, Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Arch Enemy, Firebird) on bass, and drummer Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird) and Wheel Of Illusion will actually be their 11^th album.

The word from on high declared: “You want heavy? You want groove? You want strong melodies? The Quill got you covered!” Well, based on that comment, it would be remise of RAMzine not to feature the video for their previous single ‘Wheel Of Illusion’. A rather early Sabbath like groove with added Euro hooks, the single is available digitially.

“Making new music is always hard work – but by now we all know what we need to make a great album,” said Nilsson. “The writing process is really where we gel as a band. We’ve always loved banging out ideas together in rehearsals – It’s always been a team effort with everyone pitching in trying to make every song the best possible.

Wheel Of Illusion has been described as “a sonic journey, showcasing the band’s evolution while staying true to their hard rock roots.”

“Even though we have a well-defined sound by now, firmly rooted in the classic rock of the 70s, we always try to find new ways of adding sounds and influences to our music,” said Carlsson. “This time we found hints of early British NWOBHM creeping in, we also used some old vintage keyboards which added a bit of a different flavour to keep things fresh.“

The album explores themes of introspection, resilience, and the enigmatic nature of reality.

“We were extremely well rehearsed before entering the studio – which is not always the case,” admitted Atlagic. “For Earthrise we started with sketches in the studio, this time it was the opposite – We worked really hard arranging the songs in rehearsals so once we entered the studio the process was quick and to the point.“

Wheel Of Illusion features the tracks: ‘Wheel Of Illusion’, ‘We Burn’, Rainmaker’, ‘Elephant Head’, ‘Hawks & Hounds’, ‘Liber’, ‘Sweet Mass Confusion’, ‘The Last Thing’ and ‘Wild Mustang’.

“Wheel of Illusion is by far the most consistent and well-conceived album we’ve ever made,” concluded Ekwall. “Every note on the album is there for a reason and there’s no excess luggage at all. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved – it’s classic The Quill even though you’ll find surprises along the way!”