THE ELEPHANT RIDERS is an Enhanced CD containing both a full audio program as well as multimedia computer files and free access to the internet. Clutch: Neil Fallon (vocals); Tim Sult (guitar); Dan Maines (bass); Jean-Paul Gaster (drums). Additional personnel: Delfeayo Marsalis (trombone). Principally recorded at Electric Lady Studios and Manhattan Center Studios, New York, New York. True to its title, THE ELEPHANT RIDERS by Maryland natives Clutch is a mighty behemoth of sound, maintaining a perfectly frightening level of pure testosterone throughout. The sheer machismo is given a disarming level of agility by acrobatic drummer Jean-Paul Gaster, who employs funky accents and daring meter switches to smarten up Clutch's Neanderthal assault. With guitars as sinewy as they are mighty, the beefy sound of Clutch recalls the thick lead work of early Kiss. However, any nostalgia is quickly dismissed by such modern touches as the wildly manipulated multi-track vocals "Ship Of Gold," the offbeat story telling and tempo shifts of "The Soapmakers," and the Chili Peppper-esque rap of "The Yeti," which catapult Clutch ahead of the retro-peddling masses and into the future of hard rock.