L - R: Farwell, Perez Gratz, Doyle; photography by Daryl Darko
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This is the world premiere of “A Road Less Travelled”, from Grayceon’s new album All We Destroy.
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“A Road Less Travelled”
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Even before playing a note, Grayceon are interesting. They are a trio of drums, guitar, and cello. Guitarist Max Doyle does not use a pick. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz is the main vocalist. Two-thirds of the band performs sitting down.
Their associations are formidable. Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell are in the vastly underrated, thrashy band Walken. (Doyle is the only guitarist I’ve known to play thrash without a pick.) Perez Gratz is the cellist of choice for metal’s underground. She has played for Neurosis, Cattle Decapitation, Amber Asylum, and Giant Squid, among others. The intro track on Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit was her composition and performance.
Grayceon’s sound does not fit into boxes. It spans prog, doom, chamber rock, neo-folk, and other inadequate terms. Perez Gratz’ cello and Doyle’s finger-picking offer fascinating textural combinations. Sometimes she drones and he jangles; sometimes they join forces for a spiky, spiccato-and-palm-muted attack. Doyle does everything a pick player does. He chugs, carves out pinch harmonics, and picks clean tones with clarity. Fingers can be more expressive than picks (see, e.g., Albert Collins, Mark Knopfler), but metal-wise Doyle may be in a league of one.
All We Destroy comes out a month from today, March 1, on Profound Lore. (You can hear “Shellmounds”, another track from it, here.) On February 11th, Grayceon will play a record release show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. (Worm Ouroboros and Hollow Mirrors will open.) All paying entrants will receive a free CD of All We Destroy. Grayceon will play at SXSW this year – see dates here.
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yesyesyesyesyes. Goddamn…will 2011 ALSO be the year of Profound Lore?
This album is my first exposure to Grayceon and I’m digging it. Reminds me a bit of old Celestial Season, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Interesting. I’ll need to hear more before really having an opinion, but it seems like a bit of middle ground between hammers of misfortune and ludicra, with their own set of nuances, of course. Would like to see some live footage, though!
Never heard of them before, but I’m really into this.
Here’s video of them live for those interested in observing the guitarist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZn5KL7-WI0
Incredible music and some of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet. Do seem them live.
One of the best live acts I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. First two LPs were really good but with two songs from this in my consciousness now I’m thinking it’s going to be their first real masterpiece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gisw8dLC9r4&feature=related
That’s the clip to watch. Holy shit.
That’s indeed a good clip. It’s interesting how Doyle positions his hand as if it held a pick. That’s where the pinch harmonics come from. But then in certain parts he transitions (quickly, of course) to thumb-and-finger picking. It’s a best-of-both-worlds deal.
Oh man, I’m getting the shit outta this album. Nice one for the heads-up. That tune above is savage craic.
Loving this! Very avant-garde, something I really like in my metal.
Splendid music! It reminds me a bit of Strigaskór Nr.42 (RIP), although it goes beyond their reach. Can’t wait to hear more!
I saw Grayceon with Bloody Panda, Giant Squid and Lord Mantis 2 years ago at White Star Bar. It was quite surreal for this show to be happening while the Czech and Polish geezers were complaining too much throughout the show about wanting to watch football (soccer to Americans) on the telly.
I did not realize Doyle doesn’t use a pick until you mentioned it. Also, Perez-Gratz attacked her cello with the tenacity of a lead guitarist. Her cello reminds me of that weird hollow axe that Piggy of Voivod used in his later years.
Cosmo Lee I thank you for introducing me to this great band, you never dissapoint.Grayceon is streaming another song “Shellmounds” on their bandcamp:
http://grayceon.bandcamp.com/album/all-we-destroy
this is quite interesting !
This sounds soo good , ill wait for Krallice to be released and order this and Salome.
Okay, I finally got around to listening to this. I love it! No doubt I’ll buy this as soon as I can. Love it.
holy s-
Cosmo, I owe you another beer.
tiagón – I have a better idea. Go see the band and buy them a beer!
haha, you bet I’ll do it if we ever cross paths, or if they come to play here in Brazil! \o/