Grayceon
Grayceon
[Post-rock, Progressive Metal]
1. Sounds Like Thunder (8:43)
2. Song For You (3:55)
3. Into The Deep (12:36)
4. Ride (19:59)
Grayceon is a very unique band, a 3-piece comprised of cello, guitar, and drums, hailing from San Francisco. If I could describe Grayceon in a few words, I'd go with "eclectic, enaging, hauntingly beautiful". Unlike most of their contemporaries in the progressive metal/post-rock scenes, they are void of tasteless wankery and instrumental meandering. Every moment of this album is exciting in one way or another. While listening to this album, I never feel as if I have to "concentrate on the music" like when listening to bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky. I am immediately drawn into the music. It's addicting. My senses aren't assaulted like they are when I listen to "progressive" metal like Spastic Ink or Electrocution 250*, either. Not to be cliché, but this is... music from the heart.
Enough talk; onto the review.
1. Sounds Like Thunder: 5/5
A solid opener. Starting off with a beautiful cello line, in which the guitar beautifully intertwines. The drums start off slow, ominous. Monotonous vocals enter. Overall, you really get the feeling that these three really know what the fuck they are doing, and even moreso, what the other musicians are doing. You can tell that something just clicks between these three when they play. Zack Farwell delivers an absolutely mindblowing performance on drums throughout the song thereafter, and in the entire album too. A common theme of this song are the guitar and cello just really "feeling eachother". The drums never feel forced. There's so much verve and naturalness in Mr. Farwell's delivery. The same goes for Jackie Perez Gratz (cello) and Max Doyle (guitar). Flawless musicianship doesn't require incredibly complex music. Great music is math + practice + taste + emotion. I feel all four from Grayceon. You've got to be one awesome bunch of musicians to be able to have a cello play along with crunchy metal riffs.
2. Song For You: 3/5
Probably my least favorite on the album. It opens up pretty hard and heavy, with something in the background that sounds like "The Devil Went Down To Georga" by The Charlie Daniels Band. No one in Grayceon is a particularly talented vocalist, and they are far too prominent in the song. The instrumentation gets better towards the middle. It's a good song, don't get me wrong. Awesome riffing by Max Doyle, and the drums are great. Just no emotion from Gratz's cello playing, and she's far too shouty in her vocal presentation. It reminds me of the band ISIS, except reversed. I like ISIS's vocals when he's shouting, but not when they're clean. Regardless, it ends great. A winding-down instrumental that ends with a bang, somewhat reminiscent of some of my favorite songs by Dream Theater.
3. Into The Deep: 4/5
Immediately, we return to the atmospheric cello/guitar combo heard in "Sounds Like Thunder". I'm absolutely in love with the cymbals in this song; Farwell has so much control over his drumset. About halfway into the song, things start to get groovy. If you've ever heard the band Estradasphere, I can make parallels. They jump back and forth between some jazzy chord progressions, folk-esque passages, and heavy riffing. A very gripping experience, that doesn't sound stitched together at all. Overall, the first half of the song is "decent" but not up to par with the rest of the album. The second half more than makes up for it, however.
4. Ride: 5/5
The opening on this song is love or hate. Personally, I think it's beautiful. Some may find it a bit boring though... "meandering". About 4 minutes in, we get that "Grayceon explosion" noticed in the other songs in the album. Just magical. Delicate cello playing, heavy yet beautiful guitar playing, and of course just plain sick drum playing. The entire song is mindblowing from here on out. Nothing else needs to be said.
So far, this is my favorite album of 2007. I highly suggest it to any Dream Theater/Porcupine Tree/GY!BE/Explosions In The Sky fans here. So basically, the whole board. If I had to give it an overall rating, I'd go with a solid 8.5/10. Definitely hoping for more material from them!
* - If you want to hear a band that plays fast and does it right, check out Behold... The Arctopus, in particular the EP Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning. Mindblowingly awesome. I'll save further comments for my next review.
http://www.myspace.com/grayceon (some tracks can be found here)
http://www.grayceon.com/press_bio.html (more reviews and background can be found here)
http://www.vendlus.com/store/ (cd can be purchased here)
(if you can't see this, don't ask.)
Grayceon
[Post-rock, Progressive Metal]
1. Sounds Like Thunder (8:43)
2. Song For You (3:55)
3. Into The Deep (12:36)
4. Ride (19:59)
Grayceon is a very unique band, a 3-piece comprised of cello, guitar, and drums, hailing from San Francisco. If I could describe Grayceon in a few words, I'd go with "eclectic, enaging, hauntingly beautiful". Unlike most of their contemporaries in the progressive metal/post-rock scenes, they are void of tasteless wankery and instrumental meandering. Every moment of this album is exciting in one way or another. While listening to this album, I never feel as if I have to "concentrate on the music" like when listening to bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky. I am immediately drawn into the music. It's addicting. My senses aren't assaulted like they are when I listen to "progressive" metal like Spastic Ink or Electrocution 250*, either. Not to be cliché, but this is... music from the heart.
Enough talk; onto the review.
1. Sounds Like Thunder: 5/5
A solid opener. Starting off with a beautiful cello line, in which the guitar beautifully intertwines. The drums start off slow, ominous. Monotonous vocals enter. Overall, you really get the feeling that these three really know what the fuck they are doing, and even moreso, what the other musicians are doing. You can tell that something just clicks between these three when they play. Zack Farwell delivers an absolutely mindblowing performance on drums throughout the song thereafter, and in the entire album too. A common theme of this song are the guitar and cello just really "feeling eachother". The drums never feel forced. There's so much verve and naturalness in Mr. Farwell's delivery. The same goes for Jackie Perez Gratz (cello) and Max Doyle (guitar). Flawless musicianship doesn't require incredibly complex music. Great music is math + practice + taste + emotion. I feel all four from Grayceon. You've got to be one awesome bunch of musicians to be able to have a cello play along with crunchy metal riffs.
2. Song For You: 3/5
Probably my least favorite on the album. It opens up pretty hard and heavy, with something in the background that sounds like "The Devil Went Down To Georga" by The Charlie Daniels Band. No one in Grayceon is a particularly talented vocalist, and they are far too prominent in the song. The instrumentation gets better towards the middle. It's a good song, don't get me wrong. Awesome riffing by Max Doyle, and the drums are great. Just no emotion from Gratz's cello playing, and she's far too shouty in her vocal presentation. It reminds me of the band ISIS, except reversed. I like ISIS's vocals when he's shouting, but not when they're clean. Regardless, it ends great. A winding-down instrumental that ends with a bang, somewhat reminiscent of some of my favorite songs by Dream Theater.
3. Into The Deep: 4/5
Immediately, we return to the atmospheric cello/guitar combo heard in "Sounds Like Thunder". I'm absolutely in love with the cymbals in this song; Farwell has so much control over his drumset. About halfway into the song, things start to get groovy. If you've ever heard the band Estradasphere, I can make parallels. They jump back and forth between some jazzy chord progressions, folk-esque passages, and heavy riffing. A very gripping experience, that doesn't sound stitched together at all. Overall, the first half of the song is "decent" but not up to par with the rest of the album. The second half more than makes up for it, however.
4. Ride: 5/5
The opening on this song is love or hate. Personally, I think it's beautiful. Some may find it a bit boring though... "meandering". About 4 minutes in, we get that "Grayceon explosion" noticed in the other songs in the album. Just magical. Delicate cello playing, heavy yet beautiful guitar playing, and of course just plain sick drum playing. The entire song is mindblowing from here on out. Nothing else needs to be said.
So far, this is my favorite album of 2007. I highly suggest it to any Dream Theater/Porcupine Tree/GY!BE/Explosions In The Sky fans here. So basically, the whole board. If I had to give it an overall rating, I'd go with a solid 8.5/10. Definitely hoping for more material from them!
* - If you want to hear a band that plays fast and does it right, check out Behold... The Arctopus, in particular the EP Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning. Mindblowingly awesome. I'll save further comments for my next review.
http://www.myspace.com/grayceon (some tracks can be found here)
http://www.grayceon.com/press_bio.html (more reviews and background can be found here)
http://www.vendlus.com/store/ (cd can be purchased here)
(if you can't see this, don't ask.)
