The following review was taken from Metal Edge Magazine's July 1998 issue.

Clutch
The Elephant Riders
Columbia Records

For those with an insatiable musical appetite, consider Clutch as close as you'll get to an all you can eat buffet, a starch filled, meat and potatoes band - none of the "tastes like chicken" bullshit that adds a splash of color to the plate, but leaves craving for real food before you've even had a chance to pay the bill. Thick skinned and groove heavy, The Elephant Riders is delivered with all the tact of, well, the pack of elephants they sing about in the stampeding title track. Much like their self-titled sophomore release, Riders rumbles with a retro feel, a psychedelic metal mutation that charges full speed ahead and collides head on with a progressive flight of musical fancy.

Tim Suit's grade-A guitar chops and Dan Maines' beefed up, tantalizing basslines rattle the swamp-Juiced charge of Neil Fallon's larger than life vocals on "Ship of Gold," landing the West Virginia transplants alongside such metal giants as Monster Magnet and Corrosion of Conformity, swirling styles into an infectious blend of heavy resonance and metallic splendor. Nothing trendy, nothing cliche, and nothing that's destined to help them cash in on the flavor of the month bandwagon, that's the magic that steers Clutch clear of their heavy metal brethren. "Eight Times Over Miss October" rumbles with a zealous crunch, careening into "The Soapmakers" and the funked up stomp of "The Yeti," Jean Paul Gaster paving the way behind the drum kit with unassuming style and hypnotic presence. By the time a horn section kicks into "Muchas Veces," you're not sure whether you're listening to cutting edge metal, or a breakneck assembly of the most gifted New Orleans street musicians. Fallon barks like Kiss' Gene Simmons over the more sedated blues stylings of "Green Buckets," a curious ode to garbage, drops the pitch through "Wishbone" before snapping into the chorus, and the band falls into a trippy, brass-enhanced instrumental jam on "Crackerjack" before the culminating flight of "The Dragonfly," a staggering juggernaut that rocks and reels the album to a dizzying close.

The Elephant Riders is an ambitious album written in uninspired times, a soon-to-be classic that most bands wait a lifetime to record, few see materialize, and Clutch has unearthed on just their third major label outing. Too retro to be progressive, and too progressive to be considered a throwback, Clutch trek effortlessly in directions few bands are brave enough to venture, able to see through the forest of modem rock clutter and album rock safeguards to a sound that is fresh and inspired. And when you mount it all on the backs of elephants, who's going to stop you?

- Paul Gargano